US consumers began their holiday shopping earlier this season, spending $8.5bn, excluding travel, during the month of November.

The total represents an increase of 55 per cent over the same period last year, according to the eSpending report from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen//NetRatings.

Just over half of respondents started their online holiday shopping during November, a jump from 43 per cent during the same period last year.

Videos, DVDs, books, music, toys and video games, both hardware and software, were very popular.

Online shoppers spent $758m on videos and DVDs in November, a 133 per cent increase over last year. Books drew in $761m in online spending during the same four-week period, an increase of 61 per cent from a year ago.

The music category also found success in November, with internet shoppers spending $402m, an increase of 57 per cent year over year.

Toys and video games also attracted significant attention from online consumers, increasing 32 per cent from a year ago. In the UK, toy shopping lead the way in November.