• by Shankar Gupta , November 22, 2006

Online retail spending is poised to surge this holiday season, according to new studies released separately Tuesday by AOL and Google.

In a poll conducted by Zogby for AOL, 80% of more than 37,000 U.S. adults surveyed said they intend to shop online this year, with 22% saying they will spend more than last year. Almost six in 10 (58%) said they would spend the same amount, while just 15% said they would spend less online this year than last.

Web users plan to spend $505--or 40% of their holiday budgets--online. Sixty percent of respondents said they were more likely to purchase books and music online than at a brick-and-mortar store, while 35% and 31% said they preferred electronics and toys online, respectively.

Reasons for shopping online included saving time (cited by 58%), ability to find gifts not in local stores (29%), free shipping (24%), and online sales and promotions (9%).

Google's report, based on a Harris Interactive poll of 2,559 U.S. adults, found that 40% will visit e-commerce stores at work this holiday season. Of that group, one in four plan to go shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

DoubleClick's Performics released a study Tuesday stating that the majority of Web users--58%--plan to research products online before buying gifts. Of that group, 52% said they were likely to buy the item they researched, while 18% said they were likely to buy other items that catch their eye while shopping. Ninety percent of those who plan to research online said that they "always" or "sometimes" buy the particular brand they researched.