Holiday shopping online was widespread among Internet users, study says
Just about everybody who is online used the Internet for shopping this holiday season, reports Retail Forward Inc. The Columbus, OH-based consulting company says 88% of online users shopped online during the Holiday 2002 season, up from 81% a year earlier. A surprising 75% of those shoppers also made purchases, up from 69% of the prior year’s shoppers.
The five most popular online gift purchases were books, apparel, toys, CDs and videos/DVDs. 37% of online gift buyers bought books; 35%, clothing; 30%, toys; 29%, CDs; and 23%, videos/DVDs. Retail Forward says the growth of online clothing purchases as gifts is significant, increasing from 17% of buyers two years ago. The growth was more than in any other category, except DVDs. “This is significant because apparel is one of those items that many thought would have difficulty making traction online given customers’ desire to try on goods before purchasing,” says Mary Brett Whitfield, director of the Retail Forward E-Retail Intelligence Program responsible for conducting the survey.
Among online shoppers who didn’t purchase online, the primary reason for not purchasing online was wanting to see or try out contemplated purchases before making the purchase. “The ‘touch and feel’ reason even topped the perennially popular ‘refusal to pay for shipping’ reason for not shopping online this year,” Whitfield says. “However, many e-retailers offered free or reduced price shipping this holiday season, potentially negating the significance of this issue for many online shoppers.”
Retail Forward surveyed 500 Internet users via NFO Worldwide’s Interactive Panel from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
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