The increase will mean that men, who made up 72 percent of online buyers last year, will only account for 58 percent of buyers this year, according to the Holiday Survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a division of polling firm Harris Black International.
The increase in women shoppers could signal a change in what products sell well online.
"We sort of waited out the period when all the shoppers were men, because there wasn't a lot of business for us to do at that point," said Dan Nordstrom, CEO of Nordstrom.com "There needs to be a certain number of women interested in shopping in a given medium, otherwise it's not economical. Men are great, but women drive the thing."
Good news, bad news
But there are still some concerns. Of those not planning to shop online, 63 percent said the main thing stopping them was the fear of putting their credit card data online.
"That remains the key factor that will keep people offline this holiday season. I think it deserves television ads to convince people it's safe," Black said. "The sites are spending tons of money on offline marketing, and that's the exact group of people who are scared of this."
Familiarity easing fears?
"We're a big public company. People know us, and they know exactly what we do with their credit card," he said.
Consumers, even those scared of putting their credit cards out there, still plan browse online. More than four in 10 said they would use the Internet to research products they plan to buy offline.
For "click-and-mortar" retailers -- who sell both online and off -- that's good news. In fact, Black said the study found that consumers who shop in both places spend more money offline then they do online.
And having a strong offline brand is enormously helpful in reaching those shoppers, Black said.
For example, when asked where they planned to shop for electronics online this season, the most popular site was Best Buy Co. But Best Buy doesn't currently sell electronics online, although the company has said it is working on a new store.
"Offline retailers are just squandering their brand when they don't react fast," Black said.
The Harris study, which questioned 5,802 online users about their holiday buying intentions, had some good news and some bad news for e-commerce players.
Nordstrom said that consumer fears may be assuaged as they see offline brands move online.
