What are people buying online? Sectional sofas

LAS VEGAS--Americans are definitely getting more comfortable with online shopping, Michelle Kane, who runs public relations for Pricegrabber.com, said during a meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Pricegrabber provides consumers with a list of merchants for various products and ranks the popularity of products based on how often they're purchased. Experian bought Pricegrabber.com in December.

In the home furnishings category "sofas are always No. 1--that five-sectional sofa," she said, referring to a specific product that sells for $1,699.

Over the holidays, diamond earrings were hot. Some people bought earrings priced at about $100,000. One customer called Kane about his online purchase of a $190,000 Mercedes, she recalled. (An average purchase involves about $450.)

In electronics, flash memory was a hot product category in December. Digital cameras took the overall spot, followed by MP3 players.