Despite some indications of sagging consumer confidence, eMarketer predicts that this year's online holiday shopping season will be the largest ever, forecasting that total online sales for the fourth quarter will be $26.2 billion, up 21.9 percent over 4Q04, with online retail providing the big boost.

The chief reasons consumers cite for shifting their spending from stores to the web relate to convenience, low prices, and product selection.

In 2004, holiday shoppers spent 22 percent of their gift budget online compared with 16 percent in 2002, decreasing the amounts they spent in stores to 72 percent in 2004 from 78 percent in 2002, according to the annual 2004 eSpending Report by Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive, with another Nielsen study (for DoubleClick) attributing a higher share of budget - 33 percent - spent online.

In turn, online retailers expect the online holiday shopping season to begin earlier than the offline holiday season, according to a July survey of e-tailers by LaGarde, which reported that 85 percent of respondents said they believe holiday online shopping would start before - with some saying months before - November 1.