WebProNews

Economic, housing market, and energy cost concerns aside, consumers continue to hand out the cash at e-commerce sites.

The pain may come with January's bills, but for December, spending diminishes the coming sting of lots of envelopes containing "please remit" messages.

ComScore's latest update on holiday Internet shopping found nearly $25 billion in spending by US consumers from November 1 through December 18. This has already passed all of the holiday spending in 2006.

Though the spending has tapered off since earlier in December, shoppers put up some impressive numbers on December 17 and 18, two days traditionally slower than other holiday buying days. ComScore said those two days showed "strong growth versus last year."

Consumers have become savvier about their spending. "We believe we may continue to see strong growth rates during the remainder of the season due to the late-season shipping deals being offered by some retailers, and consumers’ ability to buy online and pick-up their purchase the same day at the retail store," comScore's chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement.

"It’s also clear that many consumers are willing to delay their holiday shopping later in the season this year in an effort to take advantage of any late season price discounts being offered by retailers."

It almost sounds like a game of chicken, but with prices and credit cards instead of Gran Torinos and back roads.