Online non-travel retail sales will be $102 billion in 2006, breaking the $100 billion mark for the first time, comScore Networks predicted last week.
The company also predicted that non-travel holiday spending will be $24 billion in 2006. Total online spending will reach $170 billion in 2006, comScore predicted.
Online retail sales for the first half of 2006 were up more than 20% over online sales for the first six months of 2005, the company said.
From January through June, total online spending by consumers totaled $80.8 billion, representing a 20.1% increase over the same period in 2005, comScore reported. Online non-travel retail spending increased by 24.6% to $46.1 billion, while travel spending reached $34.7 billion, marking a 14.7% gain, the company said.
The No. 1 gaining category in the first half of 2006 was office supplies, which saw a 54% increase, according to comScore. The second-fastest-growing category in online spending for the first half of 2006 was computer software, which saw a 39% increase. No. 3 was sports and fitness at 36%. No. 4 was home and garden at 36%. No. 5 was toys and hobbies at 33%.
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