Holiday spending up 8 percent, online sales surge

And consumers were happy to take their time, according to a report from ChannelAdvisors that tracked same-store sales at many retailers into the third week of December. But shopping at physical stores still accounts for the majority of spending during the holidays. The report is based on sales activity on the MasterCard payments network. Although the company couldn't offer specific sales data, toys remained a perennial favorite and consumers showed "great interest" in the Apple Watch, iPads and gaming consoles both in stores and online.

The shopping season seems to get longer and longer every year but traditionally, "holiday sales" don't really begin until Black Friday.

It was a merry holiday season for retailers.

That's the way it looks based on the MasterCard Spending Pulse report, which found that sales (excluding auto and gas) increased 7.9% during the holiday season, led by double-digit gains in e-commerce, women's apparel and furniture.

The rise of e-commerce "is a solid indication of an empowered and savvy shopper", said Sarah Quinlan, MasterCard Advisors' senior vice president of market insights, in a statement.

But the structural shift in spending toward online retailers is disquieting for many retailers that have failed to adapt to the digital transformation.

The report also found that for all of November and December, sales were up 4.6%, also slightly better than expected.

But shoppers aren't necessarily buying more gifts.

The broader uptick is an encouraging sign for the economy, in part because it serves as an indicator that consumers are finally starting to spend some of the savings they've gleaned from gasoline prices that fell below $2 per gallon in much of the country.

Last year's increase was 5.5 percent.

The report SpendingPulse did not include the spending in dollar amounts.

Overall, apparel saw high single-digit growth during the Black Friday to Christmas Eve period.

The company said that sales of Amazon devices "doubled last year's record-setting holiday shopping season with millions of Fire tablets, Echo speakers, Kindle e-readers and other devices sold".