More people than ever are expected to shop online this holiday season.
"What we've seen is that the demographics of shopping online have begun to more closely mirror America in general," says Raul Vazquez, chief marketing officer at www.Walmart.com.
About 41% of Internet shoppers in the U.S. made their first online purchase within the past four years, according to Forrester Research Inc. That reflects the growing number of homes with personal computers and broadband Internet connections.
Retailers are trying to better integrate their online stores with their physical counterparts. Circuit City last year started promising customers that they could order an item online and pick it up at a local store within 24 minutes. This year, Circuit City is training store salespeople to help customers place online orders if a store runs out of a coveted gadget.
As the ecommerce industry matures, the offline players will also see slower growth.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2006