`Tis the Season to Give Gifts without Reason; Survey Reveals That Online Shoppers Admit to Giving Inappropriate Gifts

What's Not Topping Wish Lists?

This gifting survey also showed that 88% of these gifts wereconsidered "inappropriate" because the item was off base. Topping thelist of lukewarm gifts (60%) were tacky home decorations. Otherinappropriate gifts cited by shoppers included non-returnable items,clothing that didn't fit, candy to a diabetic, or religious books thatweren't the receiver's religion.

The Culprits

Shoppers say that they receive such gifts from acquaintances,while 26% are from co-workers. Regardless, most say that they wouldnot mention anything to the person who gave the improper gift. When itcomes to receiving an inappropriate gift, action, or rather lack ofaction, speaks louder than words. A majority of online shoppers (76%)admit to not letting their givers know what they really think abouttheir gift. The reason being that half of them claim to receive suchgifts from close or relatively close friends. A small margin (14%)reports giving the inappropriate gift back to the giver, and amongthose who do, 85% were compelled to give an explanation.

When It Comes to Tacky Gift Giving, It's Better to Receive Than toGive

Although receiving inappropriate gifts is common, 21% percentreports to actually giving such a gift. Most of the inappropriategifts online shoppers were "guilty" of giving were items that therecipient didn't care for, nor used. The spectrum of bad gifts rangesfrom something too practical (e.g., a frying pan) to sexuallysuggestive items that the receiver didn't appreciate. Additional itemsincluded food or beverage items that were counterintuitive to therecipient's lifestyle.

"Gift giving is truly an art form, and not everyone has the timeor skill to search for that perfect gift. Those who either lack thetalent or patience can take advantage of the ease of online shopping,"said Helen Malani, chief shopping expert, Shopzilla, Inc. "Shoppingwith web tools such as Shopzilla's Flexibrowse helps shoppers selectproducts by refined attributes, thus providing a safety valve toensure you tap into the needs and wants of the recipient."

About The Study

The study, conducted by BizRate Research, a division of Shopzilla,Inc., was based on a point-of-sale survey with a sample of 1,012online buyers from October 28 through November 1, 2005.

About Shopzilla, Inc.

Shopzilla, formerly BizRate.com, is the most powerful andeasiest-to-use shopping search site on the Web. With an index of morethan 30 million products from more than 60,000 stores, Shopzilla usesShopRank, a proprietary patent-pending algorithm, to help shoppersinstantly find virtually anything on sale from anyone, anywhere on theWeb at the best price. Shopzilla also features powerful comparisontools and BizRate consumer reviews of stores and products, the Web'slargest and most trusted consumer feedback network. Every weekShopzilla prepares millions of shoppers to make smarter, moreconfident purchases and sends them directly to the checkout page ofthousands of online merchants. Shopzilla also operates the BizRateconsumer feedback network, with more than 2.5 million members andabout 1 million fresh reviews per month. Shopzilla powers shoppingsearch for many of the Web's largest consumer sites, including AOL,Lycos, Time Warner's RoadRunner, and many others.

Founded in 1996, the Los Angeles-based company also operates sitesin the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Shopzilla is owned by TheE.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), a diverse media concern withinterests in national television networks, newspaper publishing,broadcast television stations, TV retailing, and licensing andsyndication.

For more information, visit www.shopzilla.com, the smarter way toshop.
Top 5 Rules for Gift-Giving Etiquette

1) No "practical" gifts. People buy vacuum cleaners and hammers
for themselves.

2) No "generic" gifts. Rule of thumb -- if you can give the same
gift to your mother, sister, brother, AND co-worker it's a generic
gift.

3) If you re-gift, use new wrapping paper and make sure it's a
good fit.

4) Do not give personal items such as perfume or undergarments to
mere acquaintances.

5) No fruitcake!