You might think that with the widespread availability of high-speed Internet, folks would be more inclined to do their online holiday shopping at home than at the office, but a new study from the National Retail Federation and a firm called BIGresearch suggests that online shopping on the boss's time will continue to be popular.
"This year, 53.5 percent of workers with Internet access, or 68.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work," said Shop.org, a division of the retail federation. "According to the survey, three-fourths (73.8 percent) of young adults 18-24 with Internet access will shop at work, and men are more likely to shop from work than women (56.3 percent vs. 50.8 percent)."
The release included a statement from Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives for BIGresearch, which conducted the survey for Shop.org.
Said Rist: "Although employers may cringe at the thought of their workers browsing or buying gifts online at work, there is a potential bright side. Employees who spend 10 minutes at the office completing their holiday shopping online are likely to be much more efficient than those who use extended lunch breaks waiting in line at the store and fighting holiday traffic on the way back to work."
The study was released as online merchants gear up for "Cyber Monday." Shop.org claims to have coined the term in 2005 after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday is now viewed as the "ceremonial kickoff" to the online holiday shopping season, Shop.org said.
With concerns that the recession has converted many one-time big spenders into penny-pinchers, merchants online and off are expected to offer holiday discounts this year as a way to get shoppers to loosen up.
According to Shop.org’s new "eHoliday Survey," 87.1 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 83.7 percent last year and 72.2 percent in 2007.
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