For many online consumers, holiday comparison shopping defines the season - surpassing worries about weight gain and the importance of social gatherings - according to a survey commissioned by Shopping.com (Nasdaq: SHOP) and conducted by Harris Interactive. A greater percentage of U.S. adults who are online believe that the price and details of presents they will purchase (79%) are more important than the meals they plan on serving or eating (59%); the weight they will gain (43%); or the parties that they will attend (23%) during the holiday season.

“Almost everyone comparison shops,” said Sarah Leary, Shopping.com’s Vice President of Product. “Getting value for your money has become as much a part of the holiday season as turkey dinners and lights on the tree. However, different people shop in different ways with varying objectives and, not surprisingly, our survey found this to be true. For instance, women and consumers older than 30 like to begin their holiday shopping earlier - starting just after Halloween.”

In general, women who are online put a lot of energy into shopping and they perceive themselves as having the traits of a good shopper - thoughtful in their gifts (86%) and seeking bargains (63%) rather than being strictly brand name shoppers (27%). In fact, of the adults who are online, higher percentages of men (38%) than women (27%) rely on brand names to make their decision.

Additional survey findings include:

Barriers to a satisfying shopping experience
Most adults in the United States (94%) have at one time or another driven to the store only to find an item to be out-of-stock once they got there. Almost one in five (18%) surveyed say that there has been a time when they did not give a loved one the gift they desired because they knew it would be out of stock. Interestingly, among adults who are online, the number of those not giving a specific gift because it wasn’t available in the store was higher for married (23%) (or previously married individuals; 26%) than for singles (8%). But most consumers know about the benefits of online shopping - approximately three-quarters (76%) of respondents reported confidence in getting what they ordered in time and confidence that they would get the best deal on a purchase (73%).

Seeking a shopping guide
While shoppers tend to know what type of item they are looking for, they aren’t necessarily guided by brands. Less than one-third (32%) of those surveyed said they relied on a brand name to guide their shopping. Some (40%) feel that it is important to weigh others’ opinions before a purchase; and regarding who they trust, 56 percent of adults said that they trust the shopping advice and opinions of those closest to them - their friends or family.

Taking the time to get it right
What do consumers want this year? Everything. Survey participants expressed a desire for a wide range of products - from electronics to computer-related items and apparel - which could translate to many, many shopping hours. In fact, the vast majority of adults who are online stated they would spend more than 3 hours shopping online (74%) and more than 3 hours in-store (84%).

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between November 3 and 8, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 543 adults who are online (aged 18 and over), of whom 253 were men, 290 were women, 125 were aged 18-29 and 398 were aged 30 and over. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the online population.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for the overall sample. Sampling error for the sub-samples of online men, women, adults aged 18-29 and adults aged 30 and over is higher and varies. This online sample was not a probability sample. [Christina Marks]