However, anyone who has ever gotten carried away with online shopping knows it is all too easy to rack up a significant amount of credit card debt quickly.
That may be one reason why consumers seem to be backing away from online shopping. New figures from online research firm comScore reveal that the growth of web-based purchases has finally been slowing down.
In fact, during each of the past five months, online spending has been slower than the corresponding period the previous year. September’s level of growth was the smallest seen since the company began following the industry in 2001.
Andrew Lipsman of comScore told CNN Money that people’s reluctance to shop online “does coincide pretty closely with what has been going on in the market and consumer confidence.”
In other words, Americans’ current trend for cutting back on spending and paying off credit card debt has affected sales of all types.
However, if you are responsible with your use of credit, experts suggest that some of the best holiday bargains may be found online.
Edgar Dworsky, Founder of ConsumerWorld.org, told KNXV-TV that savvy shoppers can use the internet to their advantage. He said there are a number of websites that people can use for comparison shopping, browsing Sunday circulars, getting notified when a price drops on a particular item and comparing shipping costs.
One last word of warning if you do shop online – make sure you are careful about internet security when entering details on a retailer’s website. If you are worried about internet fraud, you may want to consider signing up for a credit monitoring service.
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