Energy prices pushing shoppers online

According to the Conference Board and TNS, more than half of all consumers will make fewer trips to the mall, while more than one out of every three plan to cut back their spending to combat costs. Some 30 percent will do more of their holiday shopping online instead of in stores.

"Higher prices are driving more shoppers to the Internet instead of to the mall and changing the way consumers are doing their holiday shopping this year," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "But if energy prices recede, there is no guarantee these consumers will return to the malls. They may very well continue to point, click and ship instead."

The Conference Board and TNS report their online shopping survey Wednesday. The Consumer Internet Barometer is produced by The Conference Board, a global research and business membership organization, and TNS, a custom research company. The survey covered 10,000 households.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International