Holiday shoppers continued to crowd the online stores as the number of visitors from home and work to e-commerce sites increased 37 percent for the week ending Dec. 19, versus the week ending Dec. 20 last year, according to new figures.

Web measurement firm Media Metrix also said the number of unique visitors also increased substantially -- 33 percent-- since Thanksgiving week. Over-all traffic decreased by 6 percent compared to the previous week (the week ending Dec. 12, 1999), as the number of days for shipping gifts in time for Christmas decreased. Interestingly, the number of average daily unique visitors to both UPS.com and Fedex.com increased 57 percent and 94 percent, respectively, this week over an average of the last three weeks, as holiday shoppers were tracking their packages online. The Flowers/Gifts/Greetings category, up nearly 10 percent from the previous week, continued to gain as Christmas approached.