Just ahead, it’s (already) beginning to look a lot like Christmas

In the upcoming holiday shopping season, consumers will be spending as much as or more than they did online last year – and they’re starting earlier.

In one of the year’s first holiday e-commerce forecasts, the second annual Holiday Shopping Study from Advertising.com found 84% of those surveyed plan to spend online this year at the same as or higher levels than they did last year.

The survey of shoppers’ intentions also indicates this will be a longer holiday buying cycle than last year’s. 50% of those surveyed plan to start shopping for holiday gifts in October or earlier. Last year, 44% of survey respondents said they would start shopping after Thanksgiving, while 15% said they wouldn’t begin shopping until the last two weeks of December.

“The holiday season no longer starts in Q4,” says Linda Clarizio, president of Advertising.com, an online advertising and search engine marketing company. “To fully capitalize on this lengthy buying season, advertisers should look to leverage marketing tactics for each stage of the consumer purchase cycle - such as online video to build awareness, search marketing to drive traffic, and behavioral targeting and late-season incentives to close conversions.”

Though consumers may start looking online earlier than they did last year, most will do their purchasing in November and December. 77% said they’d purchase the majority of their gifts during those months. Data from Advertising.com show conversion rates increasing from November into December, from about 10% in the third week in November to almost 20% one month later. The highest conversion day during the 2006 season was December 15 at 20%.

In other findings, the study determined that the hunt for deals and discounts was the top reason survey respondents go online to shop during the holiday season. Study results underscore that consumers use the Internet as a research tool, with nearly three-quarters of those surveyed saying they visit two to five web sites before completing a holiday purchase, and 18% saying they spend as much as a week or more researching before they buy.

50% of those surveyed use search engines when evaluating products and features. According to Advertising.com 2006 holiday season data, the dates with the highest conversion rates specifically for search advertising were December 9 at 31% and December 14-17, with rates of 25% to 32%.

Study results also indicate that tracking offline sales influenced by online shopping will continue to be critical in gaining an accurate view of return on online marketing investment. 57% of those surveyed said that after researching a product online they are more likely to purchase it offline.