American Express predicts a merry Christmas for online retailers

NEWS American Express has released the results of a somewhat premature survey of Christmas shopping plans which predicts 6.5 million people in the UK will venture online for their seasonal purchases. According to the survey, which questioned 1,000 Web surfers last month, more than a third will go online for presents. This figure is much higher - 50 per cent - for Internet users aged between 25 and 34. Top purchases are books and CDs followed by toys, while seven per cent of those questioned will be buying their Christmas trees online.