More consumers plan to buy online this holiday season

The number of consumers using the Internet to do their online shopping is forecast to be up slightly from last year, according to a recent National Retail Federation poll.

by Helen Leggatt

nra%20logo.gif Last year, 28.9 percent of U.S. consumers planned to use the Internet to purchase holiday gifts and associated items. This year, that number has risen slightly to 30.2 percent.

The amount spent, however, won’t rise at the rate of previous years. The NRA’s results showed that U.S. consumers plan to spend around $923.36 for holiday-related items this year, up 3.7 percent on last year. The rise in spend from 2005, to 2006, was 7.2 percent.

"The rate of increase isn’t growing as fast," said Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the federation. "Consumers say they’re going to be a little more conservative with their spending. Retailers are clearly going to be very promotional."