Online Sales to Soar in 2007
The State of Retailing Online 2007, a study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., forecasts that online sales will soar again this year.
According to report, 2007 online sales (including travel) are expected to rise 18 percent to $259.1 billion. Sales excluding travel will reach $174.5 billion. This strong growth will come off of an impressive performance in 2006. Online sales last year rose 25 percent to $219.9 billion. Excluding travel, online retail sales rose 29 percent to $146.5 billion, representing six percent of total retail sales in 2006.
Apparel has taken over the top spot in terms of online sales volume. Online clothing sales are forecast to hit $22.1 billion in 2007, and 10 percent of all clothing sales are expected to occur online in 2007.
Why such dramatic growth?
“Retailers are doing such a great job online that in some cases it’s easier to find and buy clothing on the web than it is in a store” said Scott Silverman, the executive director of Shop.org. Free shipping policies, more merchants and making the buying process easier are also responsible for the increases.
Computers, autos and auto parts, and home furnishings round up the top 4 online retail sales categories. For more information about the study (and more niche market selection ideas), read the full National Retail Federation press release.
Want more info?
Rosalind Gardner is a Super Affiliate blogger, author, speaker, and Internet marketing consultant.
If you enjoyed this article and want to be notified the next time Rosalind writes something, subscribe to her RSS feed or the No-Hype, No-BS, No Spam NPT newsletter. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks for visiting!
Related Posts
- Fastest Growing Online Product Categories
- Merry Meltdown: Online Black Friday Spending Up Over 2007
- Cyber Monday Online Retail Spending Hits Record $733 Million
- Christmas 2007: Holiday Shopping Forecast
- Online Shoppers Want MORE Information and Follow-Up
Hey Rosalind…thanks for the info! Looks like good times will continue to roll for us affiliates.
I would have never guessed clothing would be top spot?
Auto parts is not too surprising, as it is really easy now to buy your own car parts online. Much easier than going to Auto Zone or having to order through a dealer.
Travis
I know I prefer shopping online due to the ease and convenience, and it’s like Christmas when I find a package on my doorstep. Of course, I tend to spend more online, but that’s good if you’re in the online retail business
I have a question. With the new scares about megadoses of vitamins leading to cancer (which will probably be disproved the same way all the rest of them have been), do you forsee affiliate sales of vitamins decreasing for awhile? Are there any ways to maintain levels during downturns or should we just diversify into other areas? (i know, test, test, test)
Ros,
I don’t question your information.
But I do have a question.
How, in the Hell of online/Internet marketing, do you find time to _find/read_ these things?!? Do you have your own personal time warp? Have you taken time management to a completely new and heretofore undiscovered level? Do you have some psychic ability to intuit such things?
These are burning questions that the [Internet marketing] world wants answered. (Well-l-l-l … at least _I_ do .)
Make a good day …
… barn
Hi Barney,
Rosalind does the research so we don’t have to, which is why she gets the BIG BUCKS. After you separate the chaffe from the wheat and narrow down your principal sources of cutting-edge research(I have three–this site is one of them), you only need to check from time to time, and Rosalind makes it easy by sending email notifications.
Good to know that for computers. I am interested in the laptop niche.
I have to agree on the clothing. With the high gas prices, traffic and parking without knowing you’ll be able to find the right item, size or color you need – why not shop online. Any recommendations for clothing affiliate programs?
Thanks
I’m really surprised that the clothing/apparel sector is doing so well – it would seem that people would want to actually try clothes on to see if they fit properly before buying. Never thought this sector would do so well online, but glad to see that it is!
Hi Rosalind,
I am here because you sent me a mail and your URL.
I have a question to ask: Where or how can I get info on global Internet sales statistics, and moreover which products or services are the Top ten.
I read your info about “State of Retailing Online 2007″ and I thank you for the information, but I should want to have more detailed info.
Thanks again and congratulations for your website!
Umberto.
How can I take advantage of this market?
Thanks for your article, Rosalind.
I, as a non-English speaking internet world citizen think that the on line retail through internet site has the limit originated from the language barrier, compared to offline retail. In other words, the retailer keeping the English website could’nt sell directly to the ordinary Korean, Chinese, Japanese and other non-English speaking world people on line, which forms some billion in round numbers. Someone might hold that the automatic computorized translating wizard would solve this problem. But as for now, the mechanically interpreted contents seem nothing but nonsense. To solve this problem, there is still required the literally human touch for the time being or until the far future.
Seongwang Oh
Hello,
Your email quoted statistics from projections in 2007, what about 2008?
Being new to the idea of Affiliate Marketing I would like to know if now is a good time to jump in or is it overly saturated. Are there projections for 2008?
Thank you for your time,
Delilah
I think more people are going online to do their shopping now because its just so easy. You can do it from the comfort of your own home and they deliver to your door!
But i would think there would be a decrease in the amount of money being spent because of the hot topic of scammers and fake goods….People seem to be more careful where they buy now…
As a follow-on to my earlier comment, here’s a link to a somewhat simplistic example of “fusion marketing” that I found right here on NPT:
http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/how-jason-increased-his-affiliate-site-traffic-by-500/#more-892
Jason promotes dating sites and had the idea of promoting love songs. This isn’t quite what I mean, but it catches the flavor of it.
True fusion in this case might have meant that membership in a dating site would include a feature whereby a member could have a love song specially composed just for him and his love (including special references to the couple’s “special” places, occasions, or other “personalizing” etc.), and performed by a budding musical group. There’s lots of undiscovered musical talent out there looking for a place to be seen!
“You didn’t like the silly shirt I wore…
…the day we waded at the ocean shore…
But you could see me like no one before…
…and that just made me love you all the more.
I hardly have to say that I’m not a songwriter, but that’s sorta the idea.
Brian
Great information but just wondering why I got an email today (September 2008) from NPT entitled “Online Sales Forecasted to Soar” referring to this article on predictions for online sales in 2007 which was written in May 2007? Seems a bit late ..
Hello,
Your email quoted statistics from projections in 2007, what about 2008?
Being new to the idea of Affiliate Marketing I would like to know if now is a good time to jump in or is it overly saturated. Are there projections for 2008?
Thank you for your time,
Elaine
What does 2007 have to do with 2008, when we are in a recession and everybody has stopped buying clothes? At, least this is waht my news tells me
Hello Audrey,
Please check the date of this post… May 20th, 2007.
But I’ll get out some projections for 2009 as soon as I can.
Cheers,
Ros