Forrester: online shopping growth to slow

The study points to 2007 shopping growth as the meter. In 2007 shoppers spent $175 million online; however in 2006 consumers spent $144 billion. Though shopping did increase (21%) in year over year, this is the first growth decline online shopping has seen; from 2005 to 2006, shopping increased at a rate of 24%.

Based on that information, Forrester forecasts that shopping will grow to $204 billion in 2008, a 17% increase. By 2009 online shopping will reach $235 billion (15% increase), by 2010 it will reach $267 billion (14% increase) and by 2012 online shopping is expected to reach $334 billion (11% increase).

Though still growing, you can see that the growth rate is lessening year by year as the market becomes more saturated with users. This maturation of the industry comes with more shoppers logging on but with still more shoppers preferring to shop in store. Much of the growth is expected to be seen through the heavy seasonal (Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day) timeframes. Another hindrance to etailing hubs is that consumers don't browse online. Many users are looking for a specific item and tend not to become distracted by other good buys.

Tags: ecommerce, ecommerce trends, online shopping