BETHESDA, MARYLAND (WUSA9)--This year's holiday shopping season is being impacted by the so-called "Amazon effect." Many shoppers say they'll buy half of their gifts online.
Two days before Christmas, Westfield Montgomery was still crowded, despite the fact that 86% of holiday shoppers planned to do at least some of their buying online. That's up from 79% last year.
Marcela Karns has four children on her holiday shopping list.
"I'm the kind of person that needs to come to a store and see it, and touch it, and buy it. My husband is the kind of person that buys everything online and kind of like gets it done," said Karns, a holiday shopper from Clarksburg.
"I'm always looking at prices online and all that stuff," said her 15 year-old son, Diego Karns.
Diego Karns is among a growing trend: 71% of shoppers are "webrooming" this holiday season— researching a product online before heading to a store to buy it.
"I know this mall very well so I just go in and try to find some place as quick as possible," said Brittany Marshall, a holiday shopper from Silver Spring.
Retailers are scrambling to keep shoppers like Brittany Marshall going to the mall, instead of shopping online. The result: bargains!
"There's a lot more sales in the stores that I like the most, so really it's just finding the right price and striking for it. Getting it," said Marshall.
Smart phones are playing a bigger role in holiday shopping than ever before—to research products, find store locations and hours, and even to look for coupons. On average, consumers will spend at least 15 hours online researching holiday gifts.
Written by Andrea McCarren, WUSA9
