• by November 5, 2001

Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and NetRatings, Inc. today announced a partnership to deliver the 2001 holiday eSpending Report, which tracks weekly online shopping and buying attitudes.

Findings from the new study revealed that 63% of shoppers surveyed in the past week relied on brand awareness as the leading factor in purchasing online.

The report is based upon a weekly national survey of 500 online shoppers randomly chosen from Harris Interactive's multimillion-member panel of Internet users. The survey tracks online shopping activity and spending by market segment, as well as consumer attitudes and motivations that drive online shopping.

Initial findings from the survey showed that 69% of Internet users have not begun shopping for the holidays, indicating that the official start of the ecommerce holiday season has yet to commence.

Among respondents who have started their holiday shopping in the past week, 63% shopped at a site based on prior experience, while nearly a quarter said they shopped at a site based on its traditional retail store presence, which suggests brand awareness is a key factor in driving shopping habits.

Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed shopped at a site they found through a portal or search engine. Only 5% said that the recent terrorist incidents would force them to shop more online.

NetRatings’ Sean Kaldor said that while the official start of the online holiday shopping season has yet to begin, “early indicators point to a positive outlook for websites with established brand names and partnerships with offline stores."