As American consumers hold tight to their wallets, online retailers will work harder this year for their share of the holiday gift list.
With a holiday season that is expected to be the weakest since 2002, and numbers of new online customers levelling off, more web retailers havebeen pushing special offers and promotions to draw consumers.
As the online holiday shopping season officially kicks off today, nearly one-third of retailers are hosting one-day sales or special offers for the occasion.
The Monday after Thanksgiving, tagged "Cyber Monday" by the National Retail Federation, marks the first big online shopping surge for many merchants, as consumers go back to their work computers.
"The online community is getting more competitive as the number of new customers slows," says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, an online arm of the National Retail Federation.
"Add to that the concerns about the economy, and promotions and sales provide a great way to get people excited."
Analysts at Forrester Research said American consumers were expected to spend US$33 billion ($43.8 billion) online this holiday season, up 21 per cent from a year ago.
This is a slightly slower growth rate than the 23 per cent seen last year.
Silverman said the number of retailers offering free shipping with no conditions, such as a minimum purchase, has jumped to 41.4 per cent from 36 per cent last year.
Incentives like this help make online shopping more appealing to traditional "brick-and-mortar" shoppers.
"Online has so much going for it because of the convenience, and then when you make shipping free there is no longer a trade-off," he said.
