Online Sales Rise in Q1 2009

Has the turnaround come already?

No, this isn’t about the overall U.S. or worldwide economy – this is about the realm of e-commerce.

According to a survey conducted by Forrester Research and Shop.org, online retail sales in the U.S. rose 11 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

Of the 80 retailers that participated in the anonymous survey, 58 percent of them reported an increase in online sales during the first three months of the year.

Seventy-one percent of consumer brand manufacturers, 68 percent of multichannel retailers and 39 percent of Web-only merchants reported higher sales in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

However, 61 percent of Web-only merchants reported that sales remained flat or declined.

Of all the retailers surveyed, 44 percent reported sales that increased by more than 10 percent, 14 percent reported sales that increased up to 10 percent, and 13 percent reported that sales remained flat.

Large retailers, defined by the survey as those taking in $100 million and more in annual Web sales, fared especially well, with 87 percent reporting increased Web sales.

Approximately half of medium and small retailers also saw increased sales.

The report also found that participants commented on March seeing “some improvement” over January and February.

“We trust that April, May and June will take their heed from that budding movement,” a statement from Shop.org said.

Citi Investment Research expects retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. to increase 4.4 percent in 2009 to $140.7 billion, from $134.8 billion in 2008. In 2010, e-commerce sales are expected to jump 16.5 percent to $163.8 billion.

Total retail sales in the U.S. is expected to drop 3.0 percent in 2009 to $3.42 trillion from $3.52 trillion in 2008. This figure is expected to rise 5.0 percent to $3.59 trillion in 2010.

Sources:</strong

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007058

http://blog.shop.org/2009/04/07/quarterly-online-sales-flash-survey-q1-2009-results/