Online Retail Executives Optimistic About Holiday Season.

Jingle bells are ringing early for online retailers this season, according to a new Shop.org/BizRate.com survey. The 2003 Shop.org/BizRate.com eHoliday Mood Study found that 67 percent of online retailers are optimistic about this year’s holiday season, up from 60 percent last year. The optimism is well-founded – according to the survey, 62 percent of online retailers have experienced revenues more than 25 percent higher than last year at this time and almost a quarter of retailers have experienced more than 80 percent growth.

The eHoliday Mood Study is the only holiday measurement tool that is based on data provided directly from online retailers in addition to consumer data. The first of four installments, which represents the two-week buying period between November 2 and 15, includes data from 90 leading Internet and multi-channel retailers – all Shop.org members.

“Many retailers now have several online holiday seasons under their belts and they’ve become very skilled at attracting customers and delivering great shopping experiences to them,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, the online division of the National Retail Federation. “Based on the numbers we’re seeing so far, online retailers have plenty of reasons to be optimistic so early in the holiday season.”

This year, consumers appear to be more Web-savvy than ever. According to the survey, 31 percent of consumers are planning to spend more online this year and 45 percent plan to do a higher percentage of their shopping online than last year.

“Consumers had good online experiences last holiday and are returning to the Web in record numbers for this year’s shopping as well,” said Chuck Davis, CEO of BizRate.com. “The online sector should experience a strong holiday season.”

The study also evaluated the success of online retailers’ marketing efforts. For the first two weeks of November, retailers said free shipping with conditions has been the most successful tool in driving holiday business (37%). The survey found that the top three promotional vehicles thus far are emailing to a customer list (74%), search engine marketing (46%), and affiliate marketing (38%).