43% of shoppers will buy holiday gifts online: NRF

Nearly 43% of consumers plan to purchase holiday gifts online, up from 38.3% a year ago, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF estimates that holiday sales—both online and offline—will total $435.3 billion, up 5% from last year.

The survey also found that 71.4% plans to shop at discount stores while 59.4% plan to shop at department stores. Other popular shopping destinations are specialty stores such as clothing, toy or electronics (46.5%) and grocery stores (47.4%).

The average consumer plans to spend $738.11 on holiday gifts, decorations, greeting cards, candy and food and flowers, up 5.1% from 2004, according to the NRF.

The survey, which polled 7,726 consumers, was conducted on behalf of the NRF by BIGresearch from Oct. 5-12.