U.S. online shopping rose 15.4 percent to $36.4 billion for the holiday shopping season, a MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse report showed on Thursday.

Online sales registered double-digit growth in six out of seven weeks since October 31, SpendingPulse said.

Today eCommerce accounts for a much larger share of overall retail sales compared to a few years ago, SpendingPulse's Michael McNamara said in a statement.

Gains were led by apparel, where online shopping accounted for 18.8 percent of overall sales in that category, up from 16.9 percent in 2009. Electronics also recorded significant gains, SpendingPulse said.

(Reporting by Dena Aubin; editing by Gunna Dickson)