that online spending from the November to December period will reach $32.4 billion, representing an 11 percent gain versus year ago. In 2009, consumers spent $29 billion on holiday e-commerce purchases. Last year’s e-commerce holiday spending rose by 4 percent from 2008.

Of course, we haven’t even hit Black Friday or Cyber Monday, which are expected to bring in big sales for online retailers.

The company also surveyed a small group of respondents (500) to measure sentiment around the holiday shopping season. According to the survey, 36 percent of respondents said they are seeing more discounts, sales and promotions. When asked how important free shipping is for making an online holiday purchases, 77 percent of consumers said that this was an important factor.

It’s no surprise that free shipping is popular this holiday season; 41 percent of online retail transactions for the third quarter of 2010 included free shipping. Consumers are increasingly looking to save on free shipping and retailers are responding with promotional offers.

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Authors: Leena Rao

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