Heather Dougherty Online Quotations

Online sales are poised to well outperform the growth in retail overall as more shoppers turn to the Web for convenience and values.

Online retailers continue to re-create the offline world on the Internet. People come out to the stores the day after Christmas looking for bargains. Now a natural part of shopping is to first poke around online. Some shoppers might see bargains online and decide they don't have to fight the crowds in the malls.

Online retailers are extending shipping deadlines later each year, which provides ample time to comparison shop for the best deal. Price remains one of the biggest motivators online and is reflected in large spikes in audience traffic.

Now that the 2005 holiday shopping season is underway, traffic to retail sites will climb as shoppers head back to work on Monday ready to make headway on their holiday shopping lists, ... Cyber Monday will bring additional growth in traffic for online retailers by luring shoppers to their sites through sales promotions and free shipping incentives.

I think it's a very good time for this. The advertising market is obviously far stronger than a few years ago, and Glam is going after a lot of luxury brands that hadn't yet come online then, and who still might be hesitant about it, and offering them a very controlled environment to test the waters.

I think it's a very good time for this, ... The advertising market is obviously far stronger than a few years ago, and Glam is going after a lot of luxury brands that hadn't yet come online then, and who still might be hesitant about it, and offering them a very controlled environment to test the waters.

People are becoming comfortable buying things like appliances online now.

Retailers are able to extend their business online and capture significant sales.

Like their offline counterparts, online shoppers have favorite retailers that they frequently visit. They are very familiar with the retailer's brand name and tend to go directly to their sites. However, some gifts may involve more research, in which case search engines and shopping comparison sites come into play. Most shoppers use a variety of channels to get their holiday shopping done.

The advertising market is obviously far stronger than a few years ago, and Glam is going after a lot of luxury brands that hadn't yet come online then and who still might be hesitant about it, and offering them a very controlled environment to test the waters,

Using the talk show format to promote products is far more contextually relevant for Amazon. It definitely makes sense. Certainly the popularity of that (format) offline, bringing that online could bode well.

Traffic to tax Web sites experienced substantial growth during the first week in February, suggesting that people who use online tax resources don't wait until the last minute to tackle their taxes.

Cyber Monday brought a surge of traffic to many online retailers as shoppers returned to work following the holiday weekend ready to tackle their holiday gift lists.

Apparel and consumer electronics are consistently among the most popular gifts purchased during the holidays, resulting in the largest share of online revenue.

They know the brands they are going to find and they know that they will usually be able to return items if they need to. In a sense, online retail now looks more like traditional retail, where apparel has long been a mainstay throughout the year and especially during the holidays.

It's a good time for online retailers to send some e-mail messaging to entice customers to both visit the site as well as potentially pull the trigger.

It's something that consumers expect. You can easily compare prices and find the best prices online and make the holiday budget stretch a little bit further.

In recent years, consumers shop online later and later in the holiday season making the week prior to the holidays the peak in online holiday shopping, with over half of shoppers completing all of their purchases. With guaranteed delivery by December 24th and additional discounts and incentives, online retailers continue to court shoppers until late in the season, looking to capture sales before shoppers turn to stores on Friday and Saturday for last minute purchases.

In recent years, consumers shop online later and later in the holiday season, making the week prior to the holidays the peak in online holiday shopping, with over half of shoppers completing all of their purchases. With guaranteed delivery by Dec. 24 and additional discounts and incentives, online retailers continue to court shoppers until late in the season.

The consistently high level of satisfaction each year increases the future expectations for online sales. More consumers are taking advantage of the benefits of e-commerce to avoid holiday crowds and purchase competitively priced gifts. Many of the free shipping promotions help level the playing field among the sales channels, which elevates satisfaction amongst online shoppers.