Christmas shopping online

Consumers are letting their fingers do the walking before they step outside to shop for Christmas purchases, according to price-comparison site Getprice.

Getprice’s managing director Chris Hitchen told the Australian Financial Review that his traffic in November was strong and Christmas is likely to be even better.

He points to the online campaigns by bricks and mortar retailers like Dick Smith Electronics, Harris technology and Officeworks have launched to win back consumers from online discounters.

The retail industry is spending up big on IT, with Springboard Research estimating that retail industry spending IT would rise from $1.54 billion by the end of 2007 to $1.96 billion by 2010.

Getprice reportedly charges 35 cents per referral to a retailer’s website for lower value items and about 60 cents for higher-value electronic items.