New York--Consumer spending on ’Cyber Monday’ reached a record $1.47 billion, with jewelry and watches ranking among the top five categories posting the strongest year-over-year growth, data released Wednesday by comScore shows. Spending on the category defined as Jewelry & Watches by comScore grew 17 percent year-over-year.

The fastest-growing category was Digital Content & Subscriptions, with spending up 28 percent, followed by Consumer Electronics (up 24 percent), Computer Hardware (up 22 percent) and Video Games, Consoles & Accessories (up 17 percent).

Overall, the $1.47 billion spent online on Monday represents a 17 percent increase over 2011 and sets a new record for spending online in a single day. ComScore, a digital metrics firm, had forecasted that Cyber Monday spending would reach or exceed $1.5 billion, topping the record $1 billion spent online on Black Friday.

In a news release, comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said the record spending flies in the face of news reports that stated that Cyber Monday, the marketing term applied to the Monday after Thanksgiving that has become a boon for holiday deals and shopping online, is declining in importance.

’However, it is also clear that the holiday promotional period has begun even earlier this year, with strong online sales occurring on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Now, we shall see the extent to which continuing and attractive retailer promotions are able to boost sales for the remainder of the week,’ he said.

Prior to the release of the comScore data on Wednesday, IBM’s Smarter Commerce Arm, which analyzes data from 500 retailers nationwide, published its own data showing that online sales increased 30 percent on Cyber Monday.

IBM stated that while consumers spent more on Cyber Monday (IBM did not provide specific dollar figures) they also shopped with greater frequency to take advantage of discounts and free shipping, leading the average order value to decline 7 percent to $185.12.

Though sales were up year-over-year on Cyber Monday, the IBM data shows that social media did not play a big role in the increase. Shoppers referred from sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube generated less than 1 percent of all online sales on Cyber Monday, a decrease of more than 26 percent from 2011.

The peak shopping time of the day was 11:25 a.m. EST, with shopping also maintaining momentum after commuting hours on the East and West coasts.

In addition, data from both IBM and ChannelAdvisor, a company that provides consulting and software for retailers that sell online, shows that consumers are getting more comfortable shopping from their smartphones and tablet computers.

According to ChannelAdvisor, in 2011, about 87 percent of consumers who shopped on Cyber Monday did so from their computers while only 13 percent used a smartphone or tablet.

This year, mobile usage on Cyber Monday increased to 25 percent among shoppers, with usage split equally between tablet computers (13 percent) and smartphones (12 percent).

IBM’s data states that on Cyber Monday, more than 18 percent of consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site, an increase of more than 70 percent over last year. Mobile sales accounted for about 13 percent of total sales that day, up more than 96 percent over 2011.

The iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, driving more than 7 percent of online shopping, followed closely by the iPhone at slightly less than 7 percent and Android devices at 5 percent.

The iPad also was the overwhelming traffic-driver among tablets at 91 percent, followed by the Amazon Kindle at 3 percent, the Samsung Galaxy at 2 percent and the Barnes & Noble Nook at less than 1 percent.

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