76% of U.S. Online Consumers Shopping on Amazon This Holiday Season

Seventy-six percent of Americans shopping online this holiday season expect to do most of that shopping on Amazon.com, according to the results of CNBC's All-America Economic Survey for the fourth quarter, which was released this week. CNBC surveyed 800 adults from Dec. 10 - Dec. 13 to get their views on the state of the U.S. economy, the Trump presidency, plans for holiday spending, the labor market, and more. Wal-Mart came in second, but far behind, with only 8 percent of Americans planning to shop its website this holiday season. For Americans who shop online in general, 65 percent search on Amazon always or most of the time. Certainly not all shopping will be done online this holiday season. After online as the top shopping choice, big-box stores such Wal-Mart and Best Buy are the next most frequented, at 28 percent, according to the survey. Despite the discussion surrounding consumer desire for unique products and the growth of transactions at local or small business retailers, that category too has fallen in favor, with just 12 percent of Americans doing all or most of their holiday shopping in that type of store, the lowest level in six years.

Total Retail's Take: It's not surprising that Amazon.com is winning the online shopping war again. What is surprising to me, however, is how far of a lead Amazon seems to have. And that's not the only stat that's telling. The survey also tracked conversion rate. While most estimates put the average rate of online conversion at around 3 percent, Amazon has broken the mold on that one too, according to the results of CNBC's survey, with 57 percent of Amazon searchers buying on the site always or most of the time. More traffic and a higher conversion rate make it easy to see why so many retailers are trying to emulate Amazon's success.