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Consumers spent US$4.3 billion online in April -- a 22.1 percent spike from the $3.5 billion racked up in Internet sales in March -- according to data released Tuesday by Forrester Research and Greenfield Online.
The research firms found that last month's e-tail spending outpaced the $3.3 billion spent by Web shoppers in April 2000 by approximately 30 percent.
Among the retail 
categories that posted the biggest jumps were apparel,
airline ticket sales , car rentals and hotel reservations.
"With temperatures soaring in the Northeast in April, people came out of the winter doldrums and decided they needed a change of apparel," Greenfield Online corporate communications vice president Gail Janensch told the E-Commerce Times.
Janensch added that the warm weather trend appeared to influence shoppers' online travel spending as well.
Barometer Check
In addition, the Forrester Online Retail Index, which compiled data from 5,000 online shoppers about their purchasing history, concluded that the average amount online shoppers shelled out also saw a bump, increasing from $263 per person in March to $273 in April.
At the same time, the number of households online climbed to 15.6 million in April from 13.3 million the previous month, the research firm said.
Flying High
The latest figures from Forrester add to the mounting evidence that online travel remains one of the most thriving e-commerce sectors.
Airline ticket sales jumped to $776 million in April from $572 million in March, and car rentals increased to $247 million from $132 million.
The study also said that online hotel reservations increased to $512 million in April, compared to $310 million the previous month.
As for new clothes, Internet-based sales of apparel leaped to $291 million in April from $178 million in March.
Software Stall
While sales of big ticket items fared well in the Forrester index, previous e-tail staples -- such as software, books, music, videos and consumer electronics -- did not show similar momentum.
Software sales via the Web dipped to $106 million in April from $136 million in March, the report said. Internet-based sales of videos dropped to $66 million in April from $81 million in March, and online consumer electronics plunged to $154 million from $207 million.
For its part, the online music sales category only managed to edge up slightly, with
e-shoppers spending $103 million in April compared to $102 million in March.
Internet book sales also saw a moderate increase, climbing to $155 million last month
from $147 million in March.
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