This positive view may be the result of a change within consumer behaviours, resulting from the recent economic downside: people turn to the internet for their shopping needs.

PriceGrabber.com(R) studied the impact of a tough economy on holiday shopping in its latest Consumer Behaviour Report. Results show that sixty-one percent of consumers expect to make a concerted effort to cut back this holiday season. Ninety-seven percent of survey respondents expect to do some purchasing online this holiday season. Fifty-five percent intend to purchase more than half of their holiday gifts online this year, a 10 percent increase from last year. Thirty-seven percent say that online shopping appeals to them because it is "easier to compare products and find the lowest price." Twenty-four percent prefer the "convenience of shopping anytime and anywhere."

Previous results from Forrester Research show that 81 percent of online retailers surveyed states that their e-commerce businesses were profitable in 2007. Because of this, the internet marketing bug seems to be spreading to more businesses. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, 70.3 per cent of businesses today have a website.

Malcolm Pinkerton, Verdict's senior retail analyst states "As the cost of broadband falls, consumers become more accustomed to internet shopping and retailers continue to enhance their online propositions. This channel will find itself extremely well placed to capitalize on falling consumer confidence and lower levels of disposable income currently [affecting] the retail market."

This meant more people are now able to utilize the internet as a means of shopping. Shopping online provides numerous advantages for shoppers, the foremost of which is convenience. Internet gives shoppers the ability to browse and compare product prices at any given time of the day, as online retail stores are open all the time, without leaving the comforts of their homes. It also gives the shoppers a chance to buy as much as they could without worrying how to transport them, as online retail stores provides delivery services. No more worrying over parking spaces, falling in line, or crowded shops.

In UK, a study reveals that one of the reasons of the increase of online shopping rate came from users in their 40s and 50s, having more trouble accessing built shopping centres because transport is usually not as readily available to them, are beginning to use the Internet for their own online shopping.

With the coming Christmas shopping rush, in spite of the spreading financial crisis, online retail stores' sales continue to rise. Actually, according to Ed Garrubbo, chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association, the looming recession may actually contribute to e-commerce because cautious consumers are doing more research and comparison shopping online before making a big purchase.