A new study conducted by the research group BIGresearch, many online retailers have a sunny outlook for this holiday season. Despite the economy, merchants believe that many consumers will shop online. when looking for gifts this year.

The survey shows that 63.8 percent of retailers expect their company's sales on the web to grow by 15 percent or more. Last year, only 45.8 percent of retailers had such a positive perspective.

"Retailers continue to see the web as a bright spot in the industry and are putting the finishing touches on new site features so their customers will have good experiences when shopping online this holiday season," said Shop.org head of research Fiona Swerdlow. "In addition to using websites to bring in sales, retailers are leveraging the internet to encourage shoppers to head to nearby stores, featuring store locater information, product availability and store circulars on their website."

Retailers also indicated that they will soon begin preparing for early holiday shoppers. According to the survey, 40 percent of web merchants will start marketing to customers by Halloween.

Buying holiday gifts on the web is one of the best ways consumers can save online. According to Marie Claire Magazine, using online coupons, looking for sales and comparison shopping are some of the best ways to save big on the internet.