2006 Online Holiday Retail Sales To Hit $27 Billion; Online Retail to Reach $270B by 2011
US
online retail sales this holiday season will increase 23% over last year
to reach $27 billion, according
to Forrester Research. Almost one-fifth of the nearly 4,000 consumers
surveyed say that the Internet will be the place where they shop the most
during the holidays. 13% of consumers
surveys say they will spend more on toys this year and 10% will spend more
on DVDs and videos.
Online
retail sales will reach more than $270 billion and comprise 9% of total
retail sales by 2011, according to another recent report from
Forrester "US eCommerce: Five-Year Forecast And Data
Overview". The study reports that nearly 40% of Web shoppers say they
are pressed for time, and more than 70% find shopping online easier than
through other channels. Forrester expects with the greatest penetration in
computer hardware, software and peripherals, baby products, and toys and
video games.
Part of the overall pessimism toward online shopping includes skepticism of the product fulfillment process. 15% of consumers said they received orders late last year. Returns are also a sore spot with 50% of consumers finding the process of returning items to be a hassle and 27% say they prefer not to buy online altogether because of the prospect of dealing with returns.
Forrester defines the holiday shopping season as the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The two Forrester reports mentioned here are available at: "US eCommerce Outlook For Q4 2006", "US eCommerce: Five-Year Forecast And Data Overview".
