Tech Bytes: Internet Holiday Shopping Put at $194M

Holiday shopping on the Internet will be sizable this year but is being held back by shoppers' fears about credit card security, according to Jupiter Communications.

The New York-based electronic commerce consulting firm predicted $194 million of retail purchases will be made on the Internet between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Internet shopping has not experienced the extensive growth expected in 1996, due to factors such as the lack of a secure payment standard," said Nicole Vanderbilt, a senior analyst at Jupiter.

"However," she said, "due to recent growth in the number of big-name retailers and increased consumer comfort with the medium, we believe the snowball of on-line shopping is gaining speed."

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