About 74% of Americans find shopping online as the easiest way to complete their Christmas gifts, while 87% think brick-and-mortar stores do a better job in setting them up in a holiday spirit, according to the StrategyOne’s Annual Holiday Shopping Index.

There are less than three weeks left in the holiday shopping season and survey shows Americans are still divided on whether best deals can be found online or in stores. 52% of Americans state that they can find the best deals online, while 48% believes they could get the best deals in retail stores.

StrategyOne is a Daniel J. Fdelman strategic research and polling firm. Based on its recent public opinion poll gathered from 1,052 Americans, they also found out that 54% of Americans think shopping online is the most effective way to spend without exceeding their holiday gift budget.

Bradley Honen, the senior vice-president of StrategyOne observed that online retailing has increasingly become a critical part of the holiday shopping season, which can be seen in the rising fame of ‘Cyber Monday and the remarkable Thanksgiving Dayonline spending.

However, it is still evident how some aspects of retail experience can not be matched when shopping online, such as feeling the holiday spirit.

In general, 59% of the consumers said that they would still prefer completing their holiday shopping in stores. Yet, that preference differs among various income groups.

The StrategyOne Holiday Shopping Index aims to better determine the extent of consumer attitudes and perceptions regarding this year’s holiday shopping habits, as well as how the consumers’ particular shopping plans will evolve over the course of the season.