Thanksgiving is a great time for not just consumers, but retailers. IBM reported that online Thanksgiving 2011 sales were up over 39-percent from last Thanksgiving, with mobile shopping on the rise. eBay and PayPal are seeing similar things, with PayPal Mobile announcing a 511-percent increase in global mobile payment volume when compared with the 2010 Thanksgiving.

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On Thanksgiving in the U.S., consumers shopping through mobile via PayPal most frequently between 6pm and 7pm PST. Compared to the rest of the world where consumers shopped on mobile most frequently between 1pm and 2pm PST. There was more than a 350-percent increase in the number of global customers shopping through PayPal mobile on Thanksgiving compared to last year. These shoppers were mostly located in New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago.

eBay says that U.S.-based shoppers bought and spent more than double versus last Thanksgiving. GSI Commerce noticed a 345-percent increase in U.S. mobile sales compared to last Thanksgiving. And Searches through the local product listings platform Milo had an incredible 557-percent increase over Thanksgiving 2010.

eBay's busiest shopping hour on Thanksgiving was between 6pm and 7pm PST, with the five most popular categories being Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Cell Phones & PDAs, Jewelry & Watches, Collectibles and Toys & Hobbies. Between 6pm and 7pm, eh? Just after most Americans had full bellies, I'd say.

Is this a sign that the U.S. economy is strengthening? Or do people truly go nuts during this time of the year, no matter their financial position, or just save up because they know every year at the same time there are mad discounts from virtually every retailer, online or offline?