Chase Paymentech, a leading processor of online payments, announced on Monday final results for the Cyber Holiday Pulse Index, the company's annual measurement of online shopping activity during the holiday season. The Pulse Index tracks the ecommerce activity for a sample of 25 of the leading online merchants as measured by Internet Retailer. The Index measures the sales volume and transaction count for all online purchases that cross Chase Paymentech's global processing platforms.

For the 2008 holiday shopping season, the Pulse Index results represent online purchases beginning on November 1, running through December 31. While sales volume and transaction count both showed an increase, the average ticket, or amount per sale, declined.

The statistics indicated that sales volume for the holiday season was up a modest 4.5 percent versus 2007. Transaction count was up a significant 16.5 percent, and average value per transaction was down an unanticipated 10.3 percent.

The largest day for transactions was Tuesday, December 16, with 3.96 million transactions. This was only slightly higher than Wednesday, Dec. 17, which saw 3.95 million transactions. The largest day for sales was Tuesday, December 2, with more than $218 million, topping Wednesday, December 17, which saw more than $217 million.

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