U.S. Christmas Spending 2003 n $120 billion total was spent during the Christmas shopping season n $18.5 billion of this was spent via the Internet n 15.5% of the total

Has Internet shopping become more popular in the U.S.? n The $18.5 billion spent this past Christmas represents a 30% increase over Internet shopping from 2002 n This figure represents $62 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

Who is the leading On-line Retailer? n The leading On-line retailer is Amazon.com n During the 2003 Christmas shopping season Amazon set a new one-day sales record of 2.1 million items

What were the most popular items bought via Internet shopping? n Believe it or not, clothing lead the list with $3.75 billion in on-line sales. Although one would think that clothing would not be a big seller on-line, the strong sales were a result of aggressive advertisement by firms such as The Gap, Lands End and Old Navy.

Well, other than clothing, what else? n Toys, books and video games accounted for $2.5 billion in sales. n The balance was made up of consumer electronics, computer gear,videos, DVD’s and almost everything else you can imagine, including furniture.

What are the reasons for the increase in on-line shopping? n n Among other factors, online shoppers increasingly turned to the Internet to avoid crowds and bad weather. Snow storms definitely influenced online sales. Online sales were up significantly over the average on the weekend of the big snowstorm.

Why Else? n In my opinion, Internet shopping is a much more convenient way to shop. You avoid the lines at the stores and the selection on-line is better than you will find at any one store. n You save the gasoline that you would waste driving around and also save your most precious comodity, time.

How will this effect traditional store sales? n n Companies tend to do well in Web selling because they understand how to sell in an environment in which consumers can't directly see or touch the products they want to purchase. But as Internet sales catch on, they are drawing sales away from virtually all retail outlets including catalogs.

What types of e-commerce do I use? n Every month I do all of my banking on- line, especially transfers. n I pay all of my monthly bills on-line. n Because of the distance I am from home, I also shop for gifts on-line for my family in the States. n I order books and videos in English on- line from Moscow.

What shopping sites do I use? n For books, videos, DVD’s and CD’s I prefer Amazon.com ( n I frequently use the site for the U.S. Mint when I buy special coins for family members. n I’ve also used numerous other sites for specialty items when I need them.