Issue date: November 19, 2000

Also this week: Which online retailers are best for books, toys, sporting goods and apparel? Talkin' Shop: More advice and online picks

Online shopping tips for cyber-Santas

This year, Web retailers are better prepared for the gift-giving season. Here's how to make the most of it.

'll admit I was taken by the concept of shopping online last holiday season. I loved not having to brave the crowds and the fact that the stores were open all hours. And I particularly loved the freebies. I took advantage of the relationship between GapKids and eToys that gave me a $10 gift certificate at one for shopping at the other, and happily accepted free gift wrapping from Williams-Sonoma.com and free shipping from a number of sites.

This year feels different. Most of the 48 million people whom analysts expect to shop online this holiday season aren't playing at Web shopping for the first time -- we've been doing it all year. Sites that have blown through their big piles of venture capital simply can't afford to go to such great lengths to entice us to shop. And the names that are being touted as potential big winners this holiday season aren't fun-sounding niche players, but K-mart, Target and Wal-Mart.

That said, the Web still has a lot to offer those who find it appealing. And research has shown that many people do. The folks at Gomez.com, the online rating service, expect online retail sales (not including travel) to top $11 billion this year -- almost double last year's expenditures. Here are a few tips for making the most of your online excursions this season:

Watch shipping. Last holiday season, shoppers took offense (and rightly so) at the fact that they could order, pay for rapid shipping and still wait days, even weeks, for their merchandise. Why? Because unless they read the fine print, they may not have known they paid for rapid shipping from the time their merchandise left the warehouse, which often took longer than expected. The good news this year, says Gomez analyst Jill Frankle, is that most sites are now much more organized when it comes to telling you if they have merchandise in stock. Gomez surveyed 62 merchants and found four in five will have "real-time inventory management" tools in place for the holidays so they can give you that information. Steer clear of those that can't give you a direct answer.

Shop early. Prepare to order by mid-December, says Heather Dougherty, retail analyst for Jupiter Communications. "Most sites will probably impose a deadline of Dec. 12 for guaranteed Christmas delivery." If orders flow in sooner -- or heavier -- than anticipated, she wouldn't be surprised if sites moved those deadlines to Dec. 10 or earlier.

Let the Web do its best work. By that, I mean research. You could spend hours on the phone calling every electronics retailer in the Yellow Pages for the best price on a Palm. Or you could head to a Web "shopbot" (shorthand for shopping robot), such as mySimon.com, type in the make and model of the PDA you want, and let it get the prices in just a few seconds. Shopbots work best for electronics, books, music and videos, the categories for which the Web has the broadest selection.

Don't discount the gee-whiz factor. There's little doubt the Web isn't inciting as many ooohs and ahhhs this year as last. The newness has worn off. Also, many sites now realize that if they're going to make it in retailing they have to focus on their core businesses rather than on high-tech tools. That said, some companies still make it their business to help you in ways catalogs can't. Two of my favorites: IC3D.com, which will replicate your favorite blue jeans in a variety of fabrics (such as leather, corduroy or even plain old denim), and Land's End, which this year is touring much of the country with a trailer containing a state-of-the-art body-scanning system. Step into a dressing room and some exercise clothes. Then step into a booth where a scanner takes your exact measurements (more than 2,000 pieces of size-related data are absorbed). That information is used to create a "virtual you" on which you can try clothing.

Contributing Editor Jean Sherman Chatzky is an editor at large for Money magazine.