Stressed Aussie shoppers opt for online Christmas

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More Australians are hoping to contribute to peace on earth this festive season by avoiding stressful mall crowds and doing their Christmas shopping online, according to a survey.

Statistics from Internet analysis firm Hitwise show that shopping sites have been receiving more hits over the past month, taking 6.34 percent of all Web traffic for the week ending November 24, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Auction Web site eBay Australia was the most popular, followed by eBay's U.S. Web site, Amazon.com, Trading Post Online and Emailcash Australia, Hitwise said.

Common search targets included Apple's latest "iPod Touch" and Xbox video game "Halo 3", an indication that Australians were leaning towards hi-tech gifts this Christmas.

Sian Kennedy, spokeswoman for eBay Australia, told AAP that apart from avoiding stressful queues, one of the main reasons people were shopping online was their desire for unique gifts.

"The fact that you can go to David Jones and buy what someone else is going to buy, it's not something unique or different," she said, referring to an Australian department store.

A recent survey by a marketing firm estimates Australians spent more than A$9.8 billion (4.2 billion pounds) on approximately 200 million Christmas gifts last year.

(Writing by Miral Fahmy, editing by Roger Crabb)