Online shoppers are chomping at the bit to start their holiday purchasing early -- which can be good news for prepared Internet merchants, according to a new study by Shop.org and BizRate.com.

The Online Holiday Mood Study, conducted jointly by BizRate.com and Shop.org, an online retailing trade association and a division of the National Retail Federation, found that Web users are likely to shop earlier and more often than in previous holiday seasons.

Thirty-two percent of consumers surveyed said they plan to do more of their holiday shopping using the Internet. Accordingly, the data shows that 98 percent of merchants said they expect growth in online sales this year.

Yet to the research, 53 percent of Web shoppers said they started shopping online for the holidays in early October. But only 14 percent of e-commerce retailers said they would have marketing promotions in place to capture this traffic.

Instead, most Internet merchants -- about 53 percent -- said they plan to wait until after Halloween to begin promoting their holiday wares. This could mean that a handful of online sellers could capture a disproportionate amount of holiday revenues.

"Consumers seem to be leading the charge to start the holiday season earlier every year," said Shop.org Executive Director Scott Silverman. "Online retailers who wait until November to begin holiday promotions might miss out on sales opportunities."

Compared to last year, the research found that 89 percent of online shoppers said they plan to increase their use of the Internet for holiday comparison shopping.

Similarly, 86 percent said they plan to do the same for researching gifts for others, while 74 percent said they plan to do more buying of gifts online. About 53 percent said they plan to do more online buying of gifts for themselves.

"The online sector is quickly becoming a one-stop shopping destination for consumers," said BizRate.com Chief Executive Chuck Davis. "Even consumers who may ultimately buy in the store are using the Internet to compare prices or research products."

The data from the Online Holiday Mood Study is based on responses from 1,722 online buyers and more than 100 online retailers, all members of Shop.org. The companies gathered the data in late September.

Christopher Saunders is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.

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