E-Commerce to Top $200 Billion This Year [4/8/2008]

E-commerce is growing and is expected to reach $204 billion this year according to the three-part State of Retailing Online 2008 report from Forrester Research and Shop.org.

Where are the sales coming from? Fifty percent of the sales were found in five major groups: consumer electronics; home furnishings; apparel; accessories and footwear; and autos and auto parts. Of these, the apparel category produced the most sales. It surpassed consumer electronics for the first time this year, and is expected to do so again next year.

Other findings in the aforementioned report:
E-commerce sales have been on an upward spiral, growing 17% from 2006 to 2007.

Online sales will make up 7% of U.S. retail sales this year. That’s a 1% increase from 2006.

Even though 61% of U.S. online shoppers expect an economic downturn over the next year, an overwhelming majority (85%) still expect to spend at least the same, or more, online than they did last year.

Internet marketers should take heed of the following findings in the report:
Cost per order (top five): $84.21 for online banners; $50.11 for ads on social network sites; $32.12 for email list prospects; $27.45 for comparison shopping engines; and $19.33 for paid search.

Average order value: Social network ads provided the largest ($168.80). This was followed by online banners at $133.01; affiliate programs $122.51 and in-house email list, $120.27.

Only a third of online retailers plan to increase promotional spending on such amenities as free shipping next year. This is a sharp decline from the 85% who offered free shipping on some orders last year. A majority of web retailers (57%) say they plan to include a lot of back-end offerings (i.e. including offers in outgoing packages).

Retailers surveyed paid on average of 50 cents per click for a search ad, and garnered $8.47 in return.

For more insight visit Ecommerce development Services

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