Internet Sales Expect a 19% Boost by Year-End

Online sales during the last two months of the year are expected to reach $21.6 billion, a 19 percent increase on the same period last year, according to JupiterResearch, which reports that online sales are continuing to post double-digit increases.

This growth bucks the offline trend which Jupiter describes as uneven in its report Holiday 2004 Forecast: Consumers Look to Online For Inspiration and Planning. The research group points at the growing number of online buyers as the primary reason.

Jupiter predicts in the report that 86 million U.S. residents will make holiday purchases online this year compared to 73 million last year, an 18 percent increase. In addition, it forecasts a 2 percent increase in spending per buyer compared to last year.

Consumers will buy a wider variety of items online this year, beyond the usual top-selling categories: toys, books and apparel, escalating the growing trend of increasing the number of categories consumers purchase online.

“Consumers use the Internet to get inspiration as well as to find good prices at the holidays,” said JupiterResearch retail analyst Patti Freeman Evans.

“Over half of online holiday shoppers say they will use the Web to get gift ideas or to seek better prices. To capture these customers this holiday season, retailers are wise to use emails to alert customers who have left items in their shopping carts or wish lists when the price changes or inventories get low on those items.

“Also, shoppers say that many messages will influence them to buy earlier this holiday season with free shipping topping the list once again this year. However, as the season winds down, online holiday shoppers say that messages on reliable delivery, in stock reassurance (or limited supplies), complimentary upgrade to overnight shipping rather than full free shipping will resonate,” added Freeman.