The just-passed holiday season was the first one during which more women than men - in all age categories - made online purchases, writes InternetRetailer, citing WebSurveyor's 2005 Holiday WebShopper Report. Some 74.6 percent of women in the 31-40 age group said the internet was their preferred purchasing method, compared with 56.9 percent of men in the same age group - the widest gap among all age groups.

More than 70 percent of men and women have abandoned online shopping carts; among those age 31-40, the most common reason for women was lack of time, and for men it was a desire to comparison-shop.

Nearly 15 percent of buyers said they had problems receiving purchased items on time, and more than 65 percent said they buy more unplanned items at a bricks-and-mortar store than online.