Forrester’s US Online Retail Forecast, 2010 To 2015, launches today, reporting strong growth in the last year. “The Great Recession” appears to have ended as sales charge ahead, driven by ubiquitous connectivity and an increasing familiarity with the Web. Growth was driven by a few key factors:

  • Several million new web buyers. In 2010, 5.5 million shopped online for the first time.
  • Greater spend per buyer online. 70% of the overall growth came from existing shoppers simply buying more.
  • Online penetration of total retail sales. This rose to 8% during 2010.

According to our forecast, the web channel will grow steadily through 2015, with an emphasis on customer empowerment. Bricks-and-mortar stores will continue to be hampered by this web growth as people become more in tune with the Web and less interested in traffic and long lines. We’ll be continuing our online retail research with our long-standing partnership with Shop.org this year. Next up: The State of Retailing Online report in Q2.  If you’re an online retailer, contact me at smulpuru@forrester.com to participate in the survey and receive the report. 

 Want more details? US Online Retail Forecast, 2010 To 2015