InternetRetailer.com recently featured a condensed forecast of what the online shopping industry can expect to see this holiday season. The primary source of this forecast, is a recent PriceGrabber 2009 Holiday Report, which argues that 70% of online shoppers will visit price comparison sites, up from 38% just a year ago. The primary reason for this: the economic climate, of course – with consumers looking for ways of stretching their dollar further.

According to this article, which quotes an unnamed PriceGrabber spokesperson: “Shoppers this year really want to make sure they’re getting the best value, the best deal and the right product for them.” The caveat however, is that that one-third of shoppers plan to purchase fewer gifts this year than they did in previous years; 53% plan to spend less than a year ago.

This echoes recent findings by the National Retail Federation, that other signs of increased consumer caution are on the horizon. According to a recent NRF survey, U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday shopping this year, the weakest total since 2003, and equal to a 3.2% decrease from last year. Additionally, over 65% of consumers say the current state of the economy will impact their shopping plans. The result is an increased focus on bargains, with more than half of all shoppers surveyed claiming that sales and discounts (43%) or everyday low prices (13%) will be the most important factor when making decisions about where to make purchases this year. Other factors, such as selections (21%), quality (12%), convenience (5%) and customer service (4%) will be less important than they once were.

But, there is another issue which may prove difficult for e-tailers: shipping costs. According to PriceGrabber, 20% of customers surveyed in their report, claimed that they would only make an online purchase if free shipping was offered. This, could be a substantial reason why the total number of those planning to make online purchases is expected to drop from 80% last year, to 78%.

PriceGrabber conducted its online survey of 2,018 U.S. consumers from September 24 to October 12. BIGResearch conducted the NRF survey of 8,431 consumers from September 30 to October 7.

via InternetRetailer