Online sales this year will grow 62.5%, says new report

Research company eMarketer Inc. is expecting online retail sales this year of $46.8 billion up 62.5% from $28.8 billion in 2000. The figures do not include online travel sales, which eMarketer puts at $17.2 billion and online entertainment ticket sales of $1.9 billion. In 2004, eMarketer is expecting online retail sales of $92.4 billion, again excluding travel and entertainment tickets. Computer hardware and software still lead online sales, expected to account for 19.4% of online sales ($12.8 billion). eMarketer expects that share to shrink to 9.4% ($16.5 billion) in 2004. Sales in the food-beverages-groceries category will increase more than six-fold to $9.3 billion from $1.46 billion in 2001 and will account for 5.3% of sales in 2004 vs. 2.2% today. Apparel and footwear sales will grow to $8.5 billion from $2.1 billion in 2001 and will account for 4.8% of online sales vs. 3.2% today.