Online sales rose 12.1% last year to $31.4 billion, according to a new report from the Direct Marketing Association.
The study, conducted by Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates, forecast that online sales will top $36 billion this year, and grow by 20.9% a year to total $81.1 billion in 2006.
The biggest growth was experienced by security and commodity broker and depository institutions, followed by transportation services.
Security/commodity brokers saw compound annual growth of 151.5% during the five-year period that ended in 2001. Last year’s sales totaled $496 million, and this year’s are expected to reach $647 million. WEFA predicts sales of $2 billion in 2006.
Transportation services did $247.8 million in online business, an 136% increase over 1996, should hit $306.2 million this year, according to the DMA.
Non-catalog retailers did $505.5 million in online sales in 2001, and will generate $$608.6 billion this year, the DMA continued.
Security/commodity brokers also showed the strongest growth in online ad spending, jumping 120% from 1996 to 2001. Last year, they spent $57.2 million, and this year are forecast to do $73.4 million.
But the biggest spenders on interactive/e-commerce advertising are depository institutions. They paid out $147.1 million last year, and are expected to spend $183.8 million this year.
“These figures reflect how e-commerce has revolutionized the way consumers shop, ” said H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO of the DMA, in a statement. “For most people, tasks that were once considered impossible, such as booking a vacation with just the click of a button, have become as mundane as a trip to the mall.”
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