Researcher Jupiter Media Metrix has revised its projections for online sales, but still sees strong growth, the company said today. Online sales this year will reach $34 billion, revised down from earlier expectations of $36 billion, and will hit $104 billion in 2005, down from the earlier expected $$118 billion. "The doom and gloom over the state of online retailing has been greatly exaggerated," Heather Dougherty, Jupiter analyst, told the Jupiter Media Metrix Retailing Forum. "While short-term market factors have slowed the pace
and shifted the playing field toward multi-channel retailers, the long-term
outlook is still positive. Retailers and their constituents must not lose
sight of the fact that the online purchasing population continues to grow and
their comfort with the channel continues to increase."
Other data from Jupiter:
* 52% of the online population will
be making retail purchases online by 2002 and 63% in 2006, up from 40% in 2000.
* Most U.S. online
buyers are not hesitant to register and give out personal information
to retailers: 70% register to receive e-mail for new
products/special offers; 68% register prior to making a
purchase; 50% register to store personal information on the
site; and 41% register to receive physical mail.
* E-mail marketing
resonates well with online buyers: 85% of online buyers say
they are very or somewhat more likely to return to a site after
receiving an e-mail message from a retailer.
* Jupiter analysts point out that among the top 50 retail sites, ranked
according to unique visitors in the Media Metrix ratings reports,
brick-and-mortar retailers outnumber Internet-only retailers. Of the
top retail sites in March, 56% were brick-and-mortar
retailers, while 44% were Internet-only retailers. The reverse
was true for March 2000: Internet-only retailers dominated the top
50 retail sites at 62%. By September 2000, the number of
Internet-only retailers and brick-and-mortar retailers in the top 50
was even.
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