Just two weeks into the holiday shopping season, it’s clear more people are buying gifts online.

On “Cyber Monday” – the first Monday after Thanksgiving and the unofficial start of the online holiday shopping season – Web-based retailers saw increases in both sales and traffic.

On that day alone, retailers rang in more than $608 million in online sales, up from $484 million in 2005, according to comScore Networks, an Internet market research firm.

Internet sales for each day from Dec. 4 to Dec. 8 this year were larger than what has typically been the peak online holiday shopping day, Dec. 12. Last year, shoppers spent $556 million online on Dec. 12, but they spent more than $610 million every day of the work week last week.

“We expect the heaviest day of this holiday season will occur during (this week), with sales that should approach $700 million,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks.

Downtown retailers

The expansive growth in online sales accounts for just a fraction of total sales during the holiday season – about 6 percent in all – but the growth, especially in certain markets, can mean trouble for smaller retailers who rely on holiday foot traffic to make a profit.

“It’s kind of a zero-sum game,” said Steve Wilson, a manager at Kief’s Downtown Music, 823 Mass.

For a music store such as Kief’s, changes in the music industry already affect business. People can already listen to, order and download music online at a cacophony of Web-based retailers.

But there is still a portion of the community who wants the physical product in their hands – something to wrap up, perhaps, to give to a loved one. The question, Wilson said, hinges on the size of that portion of shoppers.

While more shoppers are heading online to buy holiday gifts, the majority buy at brick-and-mortar retailers. Hank Dawson, a Baker University freshman from Shawnee, shopped for CDs on Tuesday at Kief's Downtown Music, 823 Mass. Small retailers say their shoppers prefer to see and feel items before buying.

“How that washes, I’m not sure,” he said. “If I knew that, I’d be rich.”

So far, Wilson said foot traffic may be down a bit, but sales have been steady. It’s all about getting the motivated, committed music buyer, he said.

For other retailers, walking into a store is a nearly essential part of buying a gift. Items need to be tried on, tested and evaluated for size, fit and quality.

Inside Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 804 Mass., shoppers test bicycles, clothes, the way a backpack feels when full of gear.

Still, manager Paul Davis said some people are likely turning to the Internet to buy those outdoorsy products.

“Yeah, we’re affected,” Davis said. “I’m sure we lose sales.”

But even so, Davis said traffic and sales have been brisk. Like many other small retailers, he said the quality of the store employees and the type of merchandise have helped keep business up this season.

Down the street at Weaver’s Department Store, holiday sales also have been good – likely for the same reasons, said Earl Reineman, vice president at Weaver’s, 901 Mass.

“A lot of customers like to be able to touch and feel things,” he said. “It seems like a lot of the online shopping is geared toward the categories that we don’t deal with.”

Risky business?

But for shoppers here and across the country, more online buying often means taking more risks with personal and financial information – especially as shopping on the Web becomes more commonplace.

“As people get more comfortable, they get less careful,” said James McCabria, head of the Douglas County district attorney’s consumer protection division.

For whatever reason, online shoppers have been getting scammed more often, federal data shows.

In 2005, Internet fraud complaints accounted for almost half of all consumer fraud reports nationwide, according to data collected by the Federal Trade Commission. The monetary losses from those complaints equaled $335 million.

Credit card fraud was the most common fraud complaint, the data showed.

In Kansas, almost 5,000 people filed complaints of identity theft or fraud in 2005 – a large portion of which stemmed from Internet auctions involving credit card and bank fraud, the data showed.

To avoid these scams, the Kansas attorney general’s office recommends that online shoppers:

¢ Use a secure browser – the software used to navigate the Internet. Browsers should encrypt or scramble purchase information sent over the Internet.

¢ Shop with established companies, because anyone can set up a Web site.

¢ Keep passwords private. It’s best to use a combination of numbers, letters and symbols.

¢ Use credit cards so any fraudulent transactions are protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act.