Nearly 8 of 10 web retailers (78.2 percent) - among chain retailers, catalog companies, virtual merchants and consumer brand manufacturers - plan to increase their spending on e-commerce applications and services this year, according to an Internet Retailer survey of e-commerce technology spending intentions, writes MarketingCharts.

According to the survey data:

• 10.1 percent expect to spend as much as 50 percent more on e-commerce technology this year.
• 9.4 percent will increase their spending from 26-50 percent, and 41.9 percent say the increase will be between 11 percent and 25 percent.
• 34.5 percent say their expenditures for new systems and services will grow 10 percent or less.
• 46 percent say the main technology-buying decision-maker is the CEO; 11.6 percent say the CMO and 11.1 percent say the CIO.
• A new e-commerce platform is the top priority for 28.8 percent of companies, followed by web analytics at 14.7 percent and site search software at 13.6 percent.
• Tied for fourth on the list of priorities are new order management and customer relationship management applications, each with 8.7 percent.
• Purchasing a new e-commerce platform within six months is a top objective for 23.4 percent of all companies.
• 14.4 percent plan to purchase a new platform in six months to a year; 16 percent within two years, and 6.4 percent in more than two years.
• Some 29.4 percent of respondents say they will purchase a new web analytics program in the next 12 months; 13.4 percent say within two years, and 2.7 percent say in more than two years.
• 44.7 percent of retailers expect to purchase a new order management system within 24 months - 16.5 percent say by the end of the year or in early 2008, and 28.2 percent within two years.
• Site search applications are also a priority: 24.9 percent of retailers in the survey plan to purchase an advanced site search program within six months, and 32.2 percent in six months to two years.

MarketingCharts provides more data from the survey.