11 December 2002

Online purchases analysed

U.S. Internet users are playing safe this holiday season, and they're buying merchandise they've already had experience purchasing over the Web, according to a survey by GartnerG2, a research service of Gartner, Inc.

The survey showed U.S. consumers will be buying the same types of products as holiday gifts - media, software and clothes - as they buy online throughout the rest of the year.

Toys, games and video games rank No. 1 in holiday buying plans among online buyers, followed by books, clothes/shoes, videos and DVDs, and music CDs or cassettes, respectively.

When asked to list the Web sites where they planned to purchase gifts this holiday season, survey respondents mentioned more than 70 names.

The two most frequently mentioned sites for purchases this holiday season are pure-plays. Amazon.com was mentioned by 22 percent of those surveyed (the figure rises to 28 percent with the inclusion of Toysrus.com and Circuitcity.com) while eBay.com was cited by 11 percent of online holiday gift buyers.

Worldwide online holiday sales in 2002 are projected to total $38.2 billion, a 48.4 percent increase from 2001. North America consumers are expected to spend $15.7 billion online.

www.gartner.com

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