US Web retail sales to reach $249 bln by ’14-study
San Francisco – Online retail sales in the United States could reach $248.7 billion by 2014, growing 60 percent from 2009, according to a study released on Monday.
Driven by a 10 percent compound annual growth rate, the projected $248.7 billion is expected to account for 8 percent of total U.S. retail sales within five years, according to Forrester Research, which authored the study.
Online sales, which slowed in the downturn, have still managed to outpace sales at U.S. brick-and-mortar stores. The National Retail Federation expects 2.5 percent growth in total retail sales in 2010, well below the 11 percent online growth rate that Forrester projects — the same as in 2009.
With more consumers comfortable with shopping online and retailers investing more in their online operations, the online sector has been steadily growing, driven by robust growth at Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), the industry leader.
Amazon.com posted 42 percent sales growth in its most recent fourth quarter.
