Hello. I'm Josh Dahmen, AVP of Finance and Investor Relations, and I will review our sales results for the five-week retail month of December, which started on Monday, December 2nd, and ended on Sunday, January 5th. This period is compared to the five weeks that began last year on Monday, December 4th, and ended on Sunday, January 7th. This call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call and sales release, as well as other risks identified from time to time in the company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update them except as required by law. Comparable sales and comparable sales excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices in foreign exchange are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with US GAAP. As reported in our release, net sales for the month came in at $27.52 billion, an increase of 9.9% from $25.03 billion last year. E-commerce sales in December were positively impacted by an estimated 15 percentage points due to Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday occurring a week later this year versus last year. Total and comparable sales were positively impacted by approximately 1.5% as a result of the shift in e-commerce sales.
Reported comparable sales for the month were as follows: in the US, 9.3%; in Canada, 4.3%; other international, 1.0%; total company, 7.4%; and e-commerce, 34.4%. Comparable sales for the month, excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices in foreign exchange, were as follows: in the US, 9.8%; in Canada, 10.3%; other international, 9.8%; total company, 9.9%; and e-com, 35.7%. Our comp traffic or frequency for the month was up 5.5% worldwide and 5.3% in the US, including the positive impact from the holiday shift. Foreign currency year-over-year relative to the US dollar negatively impacted total and comparable sales as follows: Canada by approximately 6.7%, other international by approximately 8.7%, and total company by approximately 2.2%. Gas price deflation negatively impacted total reported comp sales by approximately 0.3%. The average worldwide selling price per gallon was down approximately 2.7% versus last year.
Worldwide, the average transaction was up about 1.8%, which includes the negative impacts from gas deflation and FX. In terms of regional and merchandising categories, the general highlights were as follows: US regions with the strongest comparable sales were the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. Other international and local currencies we saw the strongest results in Mexico, Korea, and Taiwan. Moving to merchandise highlights, the following comparable sales results by category for the month exclude the impact of foreign exchange. Food and sundries were positive mid-single digits. Better-performing departments included cooler, candy, and foods. Fresh foods were up high single digits. Better-performing departments included meat and produce. Non-foods were positive high teens. Better-performing departments included jewelry, gift cards, and toys and seasonal. Ancillary business sales were up low single digits. Pharmacy, optical, and food court were the top performers. Gasoline was negative mid-single digits due primarily to price and deflation.
Looking ahead, the January reporting period will include the four weeks beginning January 6th and ending February 2nd compared to the four weeks beginning January 8th and ending February 4th, 2024. January sales will be announced Wednesday, February 5th at 1:15 P.M. Pacific Time. If you have any investor relations questions, please call David Sherwood at 425-313-8239, Andrew Yoon at 425.