Shoppers came out in droves over the weekend, with Friday and Saturday ranking as the first- and second-busiest shopping days of the 2004 holiday season, surpassing Black Friday, according to Visa USA SpendTrak, a report that measures purchases made on Visa branded credit, debit and commercial cards.

Overall sales volume on Visa cards from Dec. 6 – 12 reached $26.7 billion, a 16.1 percent increase compared with the comparable week in 2003. Sales at discount, mass retail and drug stores rose 21.6 percent, while the home and garden category experienced the second-highest percentage increase with an 18.7 percent gain. Sales in the specialty retail/gift/hobby and department stores and apparel categories experienced the smallest gains, at 1.4 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

For the 13-state Western region, which includes California and 12 other states, purchases made on retail debit cards rose 33 percent to $3,454, while those made on retail credit cards increased 11 percent to $4,433. Consumer debit card purchases increased 31.6 percent to $3,332, while consumer credit card sales rose 9.1 percent to $3,959.

Spending on Visa cards represents 14 percent of total personal consumption expenditures in the U.S., according to the report.