Holiday cheer has come early this year for online e-tailers, as Jupiter Research today announced that it forecasts online holiday retail sales will jump 21 percent year-over-year in 2003.

The $17 billion in sales is expected despite the fact that 46 percent of consumers stated they will shop more than four weeks before the holiday, the research firm said.

The convenience of online purchasing continues to be the prime driver the primary reason consumers shop online. In 2003, books and apparel top consumers' gift lists, and the toy category has overtaken the purchase of music, Juniper said.

According to Juniper survey, close to 40 percent of online users plan to do some or all of their holiday shopping online, an increase of 18 percent over last year. Overall, consumers are more confident in spending in the online channel; fewer consumers cited fear of credit card security this versus last year – 36 percent vs. 47 percent, respectively.

The survey also found that half of consumers say they can find the products they are looking for online more easily than in stores and they believe they can obtain hard-to-locate products online far easier than in stores.

These trends have not gone unnoticed by online retailers, 41 percent of which when surveyed said will offer extended cut-off dates in order to encourage last minute purchases. Just over half of the retailers surveyed by Jupiter will also rely on new seasonal staff to accommodate the increased demand.

"Given the short selling season and the highest projected online holiday sales volume ever, online retailers stand to gain or lose a great deal by anticipating consumers' last minute shopping needs," Patti Freeman Evans, a Juniper retail analyst, said in a statement. 

Because consumers' primary concerns about buying gifts online center on shipping and delivery, retailers who fulfill orders on time, even very late in the buying season, stand to garner high loyalty points with holiday shoppers, the firm concluded.

By: DocMemory
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