Two-thirds of shoppers will do at least 10 percent of their holiday gift buying online this year, according to the Third Annual Retailing Report released Nov. 9 by Ernst & Young LLP, New York.
This is nearly triple the 23 percent of shoppers last year who did at least 10 percent of shopping online. The findings also revealed that 19 percent of shoppers expect to do half of their shopping online, up from 4 percent last year.
The No. 1 reason those surveyed said they would shop on the Net rather than at stores was to save time [64 percent]. Fifty-six percent of respondents said stores were too crowded and 52 percent said shopping hours were more convenient on the Web.
