More consumers are finding the ease of online shopping

More early bird shoppers and bargain hunters may go online to get the best holiday shopping deals this year.

Online retail sales are expected to top $16.7 billion in November and December, research firm eMarketer predicts.

And more consumers are expected to ditch jammed parking lots and crowded stores as retailers add sales, perks and features to Web sites to make virtual shopping easier.


That adds up to more than 86 million U.S. consumers who will point, click and buy this year, according to JupiterResearch, which is predicting a 2 percent increase in online spending per buyer, compared with last year.

Consumers also are expected to purchase a wider variety of items online.

"There's more evidence that online shopping is going mainstream," said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst. "We'll start to see a shift toward online retail for a bigger portion of consumer wallets, in some cases, at the expense of the brick-and-mortar stores and catalog shopping."

It all adds up to more sales for retailers. Top-selling items like electronics, DVDs, video games and apparel still are at the top of wish lists this season, according to a shopping survey by the National Retail Federation.

In 2003, e-commerce sales in the fourth quarter accounted for 1.9 percent of all retail sales, according the U.S. Department of Commerce. Retailers are hoping a shopping spree this holiday season, online and in stores, will help them recover from soft sales and sluggish spending that began in June.

At Famous Barr's online store, famousbarr.com, customers can sign up for advance notice of in-store sales events, view catalogs and purchase gift cards and merchandise.

"We use the site as a tie-in to in-store sales," said Nancy Gaydos, Famous Barr spokeswoman.

"We don't have anything on our Web site that you can't get in the stores, but we hope customers would look online to find the early bird specials and then come visit the store."

Customers who shop online at famousfootwear.com receive free shipping during the holiday season. The Web site gets about 300,000 users in an average month, and online traffic spikes by 40 percent during the holiday season, said Bill Bledsoe, ecommerce manager for Famous Footwear, which includes Supermarket of Shoes. Both are divisions of Brown Shoe Co., based in Clayton.

Promotional tie-ins between stores and their virtual sidekicks have made online shopping easier. More retailers allow customers to order items online and pick them up at stores. They also can exchange and return items purchased online to their brick-and-mortar stores.

"The most progressive retailers know that Web sites enhance in-store sales, and in-store presence can drive customers to the Web sites," said Ellen Tolley, retail federation spokeswoman.

"We're seeing consumers who browse online for gifts and go into the stores to purchase them, or who can't find their size or color in the malls so they go online to get it."

Many retailers launched their holiday sales early this year, instead of waiting until the day after Thanksgiving.

"Retailers aren't waiting until Black Friday anymore to offer their best deals," said Julie Blackwell, business manager for MSN Shopping. Since October, the online site, shopping.msn.com, has been notifying consumers by e-mail about their deep discount days and gift guides. The site sells apparel and merchandise for more than 200 merchants.

"More of the traditional stores are driving their traffic online to click and shop and even if they just browse, at least they've inspired some shopping ideas," Blackwell said.

St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. plans to expand its online shipping department to 100 employees from 40 for the holidays. The company relaunched its Web site, buildabear.com, this summer.

The chain, which operates 165 stores nationwide, schedules 60 percent of its in-store party events online now, said Ronnie Gaubatz, master Web bear for the company.

Pottery Barn has long used its catalog business to drive in-store sales. But traffic at the Web site, potterybarn.com, spikes to over a million hits a week during the holidays, said spokeswoman Leigh Oshirak.

"Those transactions are usually gifts rather than furniture, so they tend to be smaller," she said. "But shopping online at the site is an easy way to gift because we wrap it and ship everything for you."

Niche retailers who sell rare and specialty products often can net their largest sales by selling their wares online during the holidays.

Judy Horst runs flyingpanda.com, where she sells dog and cat breed-specific accessories and clothing for pets and their owners. The California-based company offers kitschy items like Golden Retriever Christmas stockings and Hanukkah dog cookies.

"The online business allows us to respond more quickly to our customers and reach people we never could have with the catalog," said Horst, 61.

Recently, members of the Norwegian Forest Cat Association from the Netherlands, Australia and the U.S. purchased $1,250 worth of gifts online featuring images of their mascot from the site.

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Memo: Online retail sales are expected to top $16.7 billion in November and December, research firm eMarketer predicts.