shoppers

While the majority (64%) of online holiday shoppers had no problems making purchases, 36 percent did, according to a new survey from ecommerce development firm Guidance.Among those that ran into difficulty, 13 percent said they had to abandon a very slow Web site while trying to shop, 8 percent said a Web site froze or crashed, 7 percent could not complete a purchase on their first try and 4 percent said a purchase they thought they had completed actually did not go through.

While online holiday shopping remains popular one of the key promotions retailers use to grab customers attention is free shipping.Hitwise has an interesting analysis of consumer searches for the term "free shipping" during this holiday season.

Even with a decrease in online shopper satisfaction on Cyber Monday year-over-year, customer satisfaction with retail Web sites has remained steady ever since, according to ForeSee Results' weekly holiday benchmark.

More than 8 out of 10 shoppers will be looking for discounts on Cyber Monday and 69 percent will be searching for free online shipping according to a survey by Shopzilla.

More people will continue to choose to buy their gifts online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving and price as the primary reasons for shopping on the Internet, according to a new survey from Nielsen Online.More than half (53%) of consumers say price is the reason to buy online, compared to 46 percent last year. Convenience is also a major factor for shopping online with 76 percent of consumers citing the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74 percent saying it saves them time when they shop online.

Online shopping is expected to increase globally this year, but there is a difference between the purchasing habits of U.S. consumers compared to those in the UK.The average UK consumer will spend 40 percent more online than the average U.S. consumer and make 24 percent more purchases online, according to a new study from JupiterResearch, commissioned by LinkShare.

Social media will play a role this holiday season in how people find bargains, with nearly 30 percent of online shoppers saying the best way to find discounts is through sharing links, comments or social sites, according to a new survey from Guidance.Email is popular with 45 percent of respondents who say it is the best way to learn about deals while 16 percent said they find out about discounts from a retailers Web site, and 10 percent cited banner ads.

U.S. online retail sales this holiday season will reach $44 billion, a 12 percent increase over last year and the slowest growth rate to date, according to Forrester Research.Consumers are pessimistic about the state of the economy but they still have a significant interest in the ability of the Internet to save them money. Forty-eight percent of consumers, compared with 41 percent in 2007, said they can find the best values and deals online.