The bricks have embraced the clicks. Retailers generated 5% or more of their total sales online last year in only 12 product categories. And by the end of this year, they will drive 10% of their sales with eight product groups, according to a study from Shop.org and Forrester Research Inc.
Retailers surveyed spent an average of $4.6 million each on online marketing (see chart). The most effective channel was search engine marketing, which pulled in more than 40% of all new customers. At 11%, affiliate programs were a distant second followed by catalogs, offline media, traditional portal deals, direct mail, new portal deals, e-mail to prospects and in-store ads.
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