Convenience Key to Successful Holiday Season

That would represent an 11 percent increase over last year's $10.8 billion. Online shopping will see slower growth this holiday season, but Jupiter expects to see more people shopping online (46 million in 2001, up from 36 million in 2000) and consumers allocating a greater percentage of their holiday budget to online shopping. "As traditional retailers brace for a holiday shopping season fraught with uncertainty, online retailers are facing quite the opposite -- the first fairly predictable holiday season," said Ken Cassar, Jupiter senior analyst. "The attacks of Sept. 11 will in fact have a net zero impact on online retailers. Because fewer Americans will travel via air this year, and those that do will be less likely to carry armloads of packages through tight airport security, there's an increased likelihood that consumers will buy from online and catalog retailers. However, any benefits that this creates will be offset by the negative economic impact of the attacks." An Jupiter Consumer Survey from October 2001 found that only 14 percent of those that plan to buy gifts online this season believe they will spend less than 10 percent of their budget online, compared with 18 percent in 2000 and 61 percent in 1999. But even though online holiday budget allocation is increasing, spending per person is decreasing because the online population is less affluent this year and the weak economy is causing holiday budgets to shrink. The online merchant landscape has certainly changed, as many of the dot-coms have disappeared in favor of traditional brands, but consumers will buy from the same gift categories this season as last. According to Jupiter, top products consumers have already bought or plan to buy online this season include: books (40 percent), clothing and shoes (30 percent), toys (29 percent), videos (20 percent) and music (28 percent). The category with the largest projected drop this year compared to last is computers and computer accessories.