• by Masha Geller , October 25, 2001

Looks like the holiday shopping season is going to start very early this year. According to a new report by online credit card issuer, NextCard, nearly one third of online shoppers will begin their online holiday shopping before November.

The NextCard eCommerce Intentions survey found that almost two thirds of online shoppers will shop before mid November, indicating a desire to take care of holiday shopping well before Thanksgiving. Almost one third of online shoppers will be early-bird shoppers, starting before November. However, the majority (58%) will begin shopping in November, with more than half (29% of total respondents) shopping in the first two weeks of the month. More than one in ten (13%) will hold off until December.

More women will be true early-bird shoppers, with 41% beginning before November, versus 25% of men starting early. The biggest procrastinators are men aged 18-34 (19% of them), who are planning their online shopping for the first half of December.

Here's the good news: the majority (54%) of online shoppers expect to spend up to 20% of their overall holiday budget online. Research authors said this was a surprising finding considering that the online retailing represents a small fraction of the overall retail industry. "We think this is a strong indication of the increasing comfort people have with shopping online," said Scott Lascelles, group VP of loyalty marketing at NextCard.

NextCard found that men plan to devote more of their holiday budget to online stores than women, with 49% of men expecting to do 20% or more of their shopping online compared to 41% of women.

Additionally, 19% of shoppers will spend between $101 and $250 for their online holiday purchases; 19% will spend between $250 or more, and almost one quarter (23%) will limit their online spending to $100 or less. Additionally, men and women have different expectations for shopping online. More men (66%) than women (56%) will shop online this holiday season. Similarly, more men expect to spend $250 or more for their online holiday purchases (23% vs. 15% of women).

NextCard says that convenience is the main selling point for online holiday shoppers this year. Almost half (47%) cite the ability to shop whenever they want as the primary reason for shopping online. Avoiding crowds at stores was a distant second (14%) and saving time was third (11%). Saving money was a very low priority with only 8% citing this as their primary reason.