Online retail: the bright spot
It’s been a rainy week in Vancouver; and today’s news from Forrester Research definitely brightened our day.
The State of Retailing Online 2008: Marketing Report, was released this morning at Shop.org's Online Marketing Workshop in Scottsdale, Ariz. Despite reports of sluggish retail industry growth, online retail will remain a bright spot with retail sales. The report estimates online retail sales will rise 17 percent this year to $204 billion.
"What's spearheading online retail sales growth is a tale of two shoppers who visit the Web for very different reasons," said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research principal analyst and lead author of the report. "The casual shopper goes online to look for the best price, leveraging the transparency of the Internet to save money. However, more affluent customers appreciate the convenience of shopping online and are not necessarily looking for the best deal. Retailers would be wise to recognize that there are significant opportunities within both audiences and should market to them accordingly."
More info on the report findings are included in the press release.
