Online Consumable Sales Pegged at $120 Billion by 2005

Purchases of consumable goods on the Web will total $120 billion by 2005, according to a study released by ActivMedia Research, Peterborough, N.H. By then, overall online spending by consumers will amount to more than $2 trillion, the firm estimates.

     AtivMedia's study tracked shopping patterns during the past year among various categories of consumable products: health care, health and beauty, pharmaceuticals, food and supplies, groceries and household supplies, gourmet food and beverages, and pet supplies.

     Categories like consumables are blossoming as the industry works to build capacity for home delivery of groceries, while easily shippable cosmetics, vitamins and pet supplies are already a mail-order business built on convenience, the firm says.

     "Areas within consumables that will certainly mushroom online over the coming 10 years are groceries and home supplies," says Harry Wolhandler, vice president of research at AtivMedia. "As delivery systems in major metropolitan areas continue to move convenience closer to the customer's door without substantially greater expense, acceptance of home delivery will become widespread."