Online retail sales will grow at a steady 19% year-over-year growth rate, from $95.7 billion in 2003 to $229.9 billion in 2008. Most significant, online retail sales will account for 10% of total U.S. retail sales by 2008.
The growth will be sparked by a growing online consumer base, increases in new product categories and efforts by online retailers to optimize the online shopping experience, according to Forrester Research.
Nearly 5 million new U.S. households are projected to shop online in each of the next five years, totaling 63 million U.S. online shopping households in 2008. And consumers will be buying in product categories that have historically shown insignificant growth online. For the next five years, food and beverage, sporting goods and home goods will grow the fastest, outpacing more traditional online categories like books and travel.
The most dramatic growth is expected in the food and beverage category, with sales increasing from $3.7 billion to $17.4 billion over the next five years. Sporting goods are predicted to grow from $1.7 billion to $6 billion. Conversely, books, which generated 14% of U.S. e-sales in 2000, will fall to 3% of total sales over the next five years, the study found.
Online retailers are investing heavily in site design and usability testing to create a positive shopping experience. Some 84% of the top 92 sites offer zoom options for viewing products online and retailers like Sears and Office Depot offer Spanish-language sites to better serve Hispanic shoppers. As a result of site improvements, online conversion rates have increased.
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