Will online offers get consumers spending again?

Retailers are relying heavily on e-mail, Web promotions to encourage holiday buying

It's not even Black Friday yet, but home-improvement giant Lowe's and outdoor chain Eastern Mountain Sports are already rolling out their door-buster deals online to try to get shoppers in early.

As they brace for the worst holiday shopping season in decades, major bricks-and-mortar merchants are ramping up their Internet promotions more than ever in hopes their websites will drive people to shop their brands.

"When times are desperate, this is the cheapest way to try to drive sales," said Sucharita Mulpuru, an e-commerce analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "It's the easiest message that you know is going to work, and certainly retailers are going to try it."

Merchants are trying to attract shoppers, who are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn and tightening their purse strings. In October, retail sales suffered the largest percentage decline since 1992 - 2.8 percent. And forecasts are just as bleak for the holiday shopping season, the roughly monthlong period between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when many retailers get as much as a third of their annual sales.

The grim forecasts have caused some retailers to look online to try to nab the business of this year's more price-conscious shoppers. Toys "R" Us, for instance, is offering sales every day until Christmas and highlighting them in e-mails to customers. Eastern Mountain Sports is sending e-mails touting discounts of 20 to 50 percent off regular prices online now, and in its stores starting Black Friday, the day retailers traditionally start to turn a profit for the year. And Lowe's for the first time is offering a sneak peek at its after-Thanksgiving deals prior to the holiday, including a Black & Decker 109-piece drilling and driving set marked down by $10 to $9.97.

"Many customers prepare their 'master plan' for after-Thanksgiving Day shopping, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to have Lowe's special values in advance," said spokeswoman Karen Cobb.

Free shipping seems to be de rigueur. A survey by Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation, found that nearly eight out of 10 retailers planned to offer free shipping during the holiday season. And some are allowing shoppers to return online purchases to stores to avoid additional shipping charges on returns, according to Larry Joseloff, vice president of content for Shop.org.

"It's been important for retailers for a long time, but it's a priority for retailers right now," Joseloff said.

The promotions may be a smart move for retailers, according to e-commerce experts who say consumers have shifted from seeing online shopping as a convenience to a money-saving strategy. As a result, consumers are investing more time in finding deals online, and spreading the word about sales and swapping coupons.

To be sure, Cambridge-based research group Forrester predicts slower growth in online sales this year but found that the perception the Web is the place to save is rising: 48 percent of consumers that Forrester surveyed this year, compared with 41 percent last year, said they find the best values and deals online.

Tesha Fox, an Arlington resident who plans to cut back her holiday spending this year, said she's been flooded with e-mail discount offers, "exclusive" online sales, and free-shipping coupons over the past few weeks. And through her local online mothers' group, she receives messages containing more deals.

"They haven't gotten me to buy something I'm not going to buy," Fox said. "There is 'X' amount of money to spend; but if someone happens to get my attention with a coupon, that's where I will go instead of another place."

Christina Lopez of Medford said the e-mail pitches she gets from national retailers have changed the way she spends. Sometimes Lopez coordinates using online coupons with shopping on sale days. And she recently passed a Gap "Friends and Family" coupon along to the other members of an online parenting group in her community, where it's common to see people swapping free shipping codes for clothing stores.

"There are more of them, and they're coming earlier. Thanksgiving hasn't come yet," said Lopez of e-mail pitches. "It's worked for me. I'm going out and spending money."

Jenn Abelson of the Globe staff contributed to this report.