Online retailers make push for late Christmas shoppers

It's crunch time for online retailers aiming to meet their salesgoals for the holiday season.

A survey of more than 100 online retailers released Wednesdayshowed that 28 percent plan to guarantee Christmas Day delivery foritems ordered with standard shipping on Dec. 20 or, in some cases, aday or so later, according to the Online Holiday Mood Study. Thestudy was conducted Dec. 6-7 by BizRate.com, a Web ratings site, andShop.org, an online retail trade association and a division of theNational Retail Federation.

The merchants plan to meet their ambitious delivery goals bybeefing up their work forces and their shipping programs.

"Online retailers are turning their …