VeriSign said there were sharp gains in purchases of clothing and entertainment.

The Web company, which makes tools and services for Web sites, said the final five shopping days during the week of Dec. 20 accounted for $1.5 billion in online purchases.

VeriSign's statistics for the period from Nov. 25 through Dec. 27 were based on online sales processed through VeriSign Payment Services, which VeriSign said handles more than 35 percent of all North American e-commerce and represents around 120,000 online retailers.

Online apparel purchases rose 45 percent during the holiday period, with women's apparel accounting for 40 percent of the total, VeriSign said.

Entertainment purchases, including music and video downloads, rose 54 percent, while online transactions in photo printing and sharing surged 120 percent.

VeriSign also saw an increase in gift-certificate purchases, mirroring findings seen in other recent surveys.