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Online Shoppers May Find Bargains

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By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP, The Associated Press

Published: November 26, 2007

NEW YORK - As consumers hold tight to their wallets, online retailers will work harder this year for their share of the holiday gift list.

With a holiday season that is expected to be the weakest since 2002, and numbers of new online customers leveling off, more Web retailers have been pushing special offers and promotions to draw consumers.

As the online holiday shopping season officially kicks off today, a number of retailers are hosting one-day sales or special offers for the occasion. The Monday after Thanksgiving, tagged "Cyber Monday" by the National Retail Federation, marks the first big online shopping surge for many merchants.
Toys R Us will hold a one-day online sale and rival eToys.com will launch a two-day sale. Wal-Mart will begin five days of online-only sales.

Online jeweler Blue Nile will give customers 20 percent off purchases paid through PayPal, eBay Inc.'s electronic payment division. Target, Circuit City, Sears, Crate & Barrel, the Discovery Store and Overstock.com are among dozens of retailers offering free shipping that day.

"The online community is getting more competitive as the amount of new customers slows," according to Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, an online arm of the National Retail Federation.

Silverman said the number of retailers offering free shipping with no conditions has jumped to 41.4 percent from 36 percent last year.

Nearly one-third of retailers also are having special one-day sales for Cyber Monday. Forty-two percent plan some kind of promotion, according to the retail federation's annual survey.

In fact, the number of retailers hosting online deals on the Monday after Thanksgiving has surged to 72 percent of those polled from 42 percent just two years ago.

Analysts at Forrester Research said American consumers are expected to spend $33 billion online this holiday season, up 21 percent from a year ago. This is a slightly slower growth rate than the 23 percent seen last year.

Online sales got off to a good start, according to one research firm. ComScore Networks reported Sunday that online sales rose 22 percent to $531 million on the day after Thanksgiving versus the same day a year ago. ComScore expected online sales today to exceed $700 million.

Still, some consumers said they expect to reduce their holiday spending

Karen Dolinsky of Cobleskill, N.Y., said gas prices will probably lead her to spend less this year. Dolinsky, 44, said she would be doing the majority of her shopping on the Web.

"I pick one day to go to the mall and then the rest is done online," she said.

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