Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks, predicts that e-commerce spending will continue to grow at a rate of at least 20 percent in 2006, and as a result "online spending for 2006 will eclipse the $100 billion threshold for the first time."

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported total U.S. non-travel online spending at $24.5 billion for the first quarter, a 25.4 percent increase from the year-earlier period. comScore's previously published non-travel online spending figure was $23.9 billion for the first quarter of 2006 - or a year-over-year growth of 22 percent.