Online trends

Here's a look at highlights of this year's online shopping scene:

PRICES: Bargains can be found because online retailers have to use the same sales tactics as traditional retailers in a tough economy. Sites such as BizRate, SmartBargains.com, Overstock.com and DealTime.com are just some of the places to check for bargains.

In addition to discounts, coupon sites such as DealNews.com offer consumers one-stop convenience to check out what additional savings might be available. And MSN is again offering a 20 percent rebate on purchases totaling up to $500 for people who buy from selected merchants using Microsoft's Passport identification system.

"The online 'pure plays' have more latitude in discounting," said Chuck Davis, president and CEO of BizRate. "And since there are many of these companies, discounts are more prevalent this year."

COMPARISONS: Sites such as MySimon.com, BizRate.com, FatWallet.com and PriceGrabber.com give consumers an easy way to look for products, compare prices and check out merchants.

"It's a lot easier to go to a comparison shopping site and line up 80 merchants to fight for your business than it is to drive to 80 different malls," Davis said. "One takes 10 minutes; the other will take 21 shopping days."

Some of the comparison sites let you calculate total cost, including any shipping charges, before deciding to buy.

Beyond prices, consumer ratings of merchants on the comparison sites can give important clues about how happy the shopping experience is likely to be.

Some of the sites simply tote up the number of opinions submitted, making them subject to skewing by one unhappy customer ripping a retailer repeatedly or by a retailer getting employees to post a bounty of bogus compliments.

But some sites, including BizRate, survey customers who bought merchandise about their experiences, ensuring the feedback is legitimate.

"What I recommend is to get a superb value from a good merchant," Davis said. "Cutting corners on price also means cutting corners on a merchant," Davis said. "And the two together could create an unhappy holiday."

STORES: Amazon.com and eBay.com are the most successful Internet-only retailers, or "pure play" operators in industry jargon. There's also the online version of traditional retailers, looking a lot like the stores along U.S. 19 or Dale Mabry: Wal-Mart, Sears, Penney's and other traditional retailers.

"We see most of the growth coming from the multichannel retailers, those with Internet presence plus either stores, catalogs, TV or some other channel (or several channels)," David Schehr, research director for the GartnerG2 research firm, wrote in an e-mail.

And there are the virtual malls set up by online brand giants such as America Online, MSN and Yahoo. Online malls dwarf anything you can drive to: Yahoo, the largest online mall, claims more than 13,000 merchants.

Here are the top 15 online shopping Web sites for the week ending Dec. 1, according to Nielsen/NetRatings:

Brand or Channel

Number of different visitors (in thousands)

1. eBay 11,984

2. Amazon 10,242

3. Yahoo! Shopping 7,391

4. MSN Shopping 3,128

5. Wal-Mart Stores 2,786

6. BestBuy.com 2,158

7. AOL Shopping 1,976

8. Columbiahouse.com 1,836

9. ToysRUs 1,792

10. DealTime 1,783

11. Dell Computer 1,747

12. Hallmark 1,723

13. Target 1,670

14. Sears 1,565

15. Barnesandnoble.com 1,480

Source: Nielsen/NetRatings

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright