New York. US online sales are set to hit a new record on this week's "Cyber Monday," Adobe Analytics said, as e-commerce outlets gear up to lure shoppers in the opening days of the holiday season, AFP reports.

Internet purchases are expected to reach $9.4 billion, a jump of nearly 19 percent over last year's record-setting $7.9 billion take, according to a Sunday estimate from the company, which measures transactions from 80 of the 100 largest US online retailers.

US merchants have long viewed the days after the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday as a prime time to part shoppers from their money, particularly during the "Black Friday" sales following the holiday. This year's expected record-setting shopping comes as Price Waterhouse Cooper found for the first time that a majority of people surveyed said they would rather shop online than in a brick-and-mortar store.

Shoppers spent $7.4 billion online on Friday, according to Adobe. Some 40 percent of these purchases were made using smartphones. On Thanksgiving Day, US consumers spent $4.2 billion online. Online sales on "Small Business Saturday" amounted to $3.6 billion, up 18 percent over last year.

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