About a third of online consumers said rising energy costs will change the way they shop for Q4 holidays, according to a new study from The Conference Board, a research and business membership organization, and TNS, a custom research firm. Of that 35 percent reporting a change in shopping habits:
* 53 percent of modest earners (annual incomes of less than $35,000) and 60 percent of affluent earners (with incomes of $70,000 or more) say they will shop less in brick-and-mortar stores and more online to help defray rising energy costs on their budgets.
* 47 percent of those ramping up their online buying plan to buy books, apparel and shoes, while 44 percent plan to buy DVDs, videos and movies via the Web.
* 27 percent of modest earners will reduce the number of people on their shopping lists so they can more comfortably afford to fill their gas tanks and heat their homes.
Source: The Conference Board, http://www.conference-board.org