Online shopping this holiday season is predicted to reach $26.2 billion, an increase of 22% from last year’s total of $21.5 billion.
According to the latest forecasts from eMarketer, this year’s estimates for online retail revenues represent a jump of almost 50% from the $17.4 billion spent in the same period in 2003.
E-commerce is increasing in popularity, with the analyst predicting the sector to enjoy a 40% increase in 2005 in its latest Western Europe E-Commerce report (see European E-Commerce Forecast To Rise By 40% In 2005).
Germany and the UK are revealed by eMarketer to have some of the largest internet user populations in the world, with the combined online community of Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain forecast to reach 174.6 million, up from 131.5 million in 2004.
Research published at the beginning of the year by Millward Brown for the European Interactive Advertising Association revealed that over a quarter of UK consumers spent more than £1,000 online in 2004 (see UK Leads Europe In Online Spending).
The study showed that 30% of Britons purchased over 16 items online last year, compared to just 19% across Europe.
In the US, internet users are predicted to increase to 188.5 million by 2008 compared to 170.1 million in 2004. Western Europe is catching up with the US, with eMarketer projecting an annual growth rate of 7.3%, while the US is forecast an annual growth rate of just 2.6%.
Online retail sales in the US are predicted to rise by almost 25% this year, with revenues forecast to increase to $109.6 billion, up from $89 billion in 2004, according to a recent study by Shop.org and conducted by Forrester Research (see US Online Retail To Rise By 25% In 2005).
The projections are in line with analyst eMarketer’s latest online retail estimates, predicting US online retail sales to reach $84.5 billion this year, a 22.1% increase from last year (see US Online Shopping To Reach $84.5 Billion In 2005).
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