Online Holiday Shopping Starting Earlier This Year

	More of this Feature
	Part 1: Online Holiday Spending Intentions Part 2: Where Will They Shop and What Will They Buy?
	Related Links
	NextCard Holiday 2001 Retail Guide More Holiday Sales Predictions
	Display Enlarged Graphs Source: NextCard & Harris Interactive

When will they shop?

The NextCard eCommerce Intentions survey found that almost two thirds (61 percent) of online shoppers will shop before mid November, indicating a desire to take care of holiday shopping well before Thanksgiving. Almost one third (32 percent) of online shoppers will be early-bird shoppers, starting before November. However, the majority (58 percent) will begin shopping in November, with more than half of these (29 percent of total respondents) shopping in the first two weeks of the month. More than one in ten (13 percent) will hold off until December.

More women will be true early-bird shoppers, with 41 percent beginning before November, versus 25 percent of men starting early. The biggest procrastinators are men aged 18-34 (19 percent of them), who are planning their online shopping for the first half of December.

Where will they shop?

Amazon.com is the clear favorite of online shoppers with nearly half (46 percent) intending to spend a portion of their holiday budget at the online retailer. eBay is second (24 percent) and BarnesandNoble.com is a close third (21 percent).

The major discounters, Walmart.com, JCPenney.com and Target.com take up the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively, although they will be more popular with women than with men. Twenty two percent of women and 15 percent of men will shop at Walmart.com; 21 percent of women and 11 percent of men will shop at JCPenney.com and 18 percent of women and 12 percent of men will shop at Target.com.

"Amazon.com has clearly established itself as a reliable retailer with consumers," said Lascelles. "This has translated into strong loyalty among online shoppers. It's going to be interesting to see whether the traditional discounters can continue to make respectable gains and close the gap with Amazon.com."

What gifts will they buy?

Books will top the online gift list this year, with CDs/videos and toys/games as the next most popular choices. Almost half (48 percent) will purchase books online; 41 percent CD/videos, and 41 percent toys/games. "Of all the product categories, consumers are most comfortable buying books online. Amazon.com will continue to be popular because it makes buying books extremely easy and offers a wide selection," said Lascelles.

Rounding out the top ten gift choices are:

Books top the list for men (50 percent), while toys/games will be the main purchases for women (47 percent).

Why will they buy holiday gifts online?

Convenience is the main selling point for online holiday shoppers this year. Almost half (47 percent) cite the ability to shop whenever they want as the primary reason for shopping online. Avoiding crowds at stores was a distant second (14 percent) and saving time was third (11 percent). Saving money was a very low priority with only 8 percent citing this as their primary reason.

"Interestingly, 10 percent will shop online this holiday season in order to send gifts to family and friends who do not live close by. If anxieties brought on by terrorist events continue to impact people's desire to travel, we expect to see more people shopping online for this reason," said Lascelles.

About the Survey
NextCard commissioned Harris Interactive to carry out the survey of 2,412 online shoppers on October 2 and 3, 2001. An online shopper was defined as someone who had ever made a purchase online. To ensure a reliable and accurate representation of the total online population, completed interviews were weighted by known norms of the national online population. The margin of error for the total sample is 2.0 percent.

Text and Graphics ©2001 NextCard courtesy of Newstream.

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