Online holiday sales seen rising

CHICAGO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Forrester Research of Chicago said Monday it expects online holiday sales to increase 20 percent from last year.

The independent technology research firm said it expects online holiday sales to rise to $13.2 billion from $11 billion a year ago.

"Online sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year rose 31 percent from 2002. With the Internet becoming more mainstream, online sales have had the same weakness as offline sales," Forrester senior analyst Carrie Johnson said.

Johnson said she expects more retailers to use the Internet to prompt consumers into stores. Big in-store discounts and promotions will be too much for even online shoppers to pass up, Johnson said.

Forrester Research estimates full-year online sales will be about $139 billion, down from its initial forecast of $144 billion.