E-Commerce Sales Growing 600% Faster Than Traditional Retail

While online sales still comprise a relatively small amount of total retail sales (3.3 percent), it is growing six times faster than brick-and-mortar retail. The Census Bureau reported e-commerce jumped 25.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 over the previous year’s total. During that same period, total retail sales only increased by 4.0 percent.

Total e-commerce revenue in 2006 was estimated at almost $109 billion, and it is expected that strong growth will continue in 2007.

In another study conducted by ForeSee Research and the University of Michigan, online retailers ended up with better customer satisfaction scores than their offline counterparts. On a 100-point scale, online retail scored 83.5, while offline retail scored lower at 74.4 on the index.