Byrne said the delay in the "tide" from a year ago might be attributable to weather or the general election.

"And I think what has happened is that on Black Friday, they (customers) shopped and they remembered what a crummy experience it is to sit in line for hours in the cold or throwing sharp elbows. And they realized, 'Hey, I can go online and do all this,' so I think each year this phenomenon is getting bigger and bigger because people realize online shopping is so much better use of your time than going to a mall."

But are people buying or simply window-shopping through their computer screens? Byrne said the rate of conversion — a percentage of people buying from the total at the Web site — "has gone up very nicely." To accommodate browsers, Overstock.com has added elements to make shopping easier, including a "gift finder" feature that suggests options if the user provides some demographic information about the gift recipient.

Also popular is a Toys For Tots program in conjunction with the U.S. Marines. Once a small tab on the site, it was so popular that Overstock.com made it a central item on the home page.

Overstock.com isn't alone among e-tailers seeing strong post-Thanksgiving activity. Jewelry retailer ice.com reported a 60 percent increase in traffic and an 80 percent increase in sales through noon Monday, compared to the same period a year ago, according to Pinny Gniwisch, founder of ice.com. Walmart.com reported a 60 percent increase in traffic through noon Monday compared to a year ago.

While the National Retail Federation expects total sales for the November and December period for brick-and-mortar stores to be up 5 percent, compared with 6.1 percent a year ago, Jupiter Research forecasts an 18 percent increase for online sales to $32 billion. That is slightly below the 23 percent pace in the previous year.

ComScore, which excludes travel, auctions and corporate purchases in its results, expects online sales to increase by at least 24 percent to $599 million, from $484 million a year ago. ComScore reported a better-than-expected 42 percent increase in sales to $434 million on the day after Thanksgiving, from the same day a year ago.

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Contributing: Associated Press; Bloomberg News

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com