With the current economic downturn – and more bad news every day, despite the reported ‘green shoots’ that everyone is so desperately seeking – here’s an important question for your web business…

Are online sales holding up?

Well, there are many dimensions to that question and, unsurprisingly, many answers!

But, to look at the big picture (where the statistics are easier to find!), on-line sales are ever growing as a percentage of total sales, despite the recession. They now represent about 3.5% of all retail sales in the USA, according to the US Census Bureau, as shown in the following diagram.

US e-Commerce Growth to 4th Quarter 2008

US e-Commerce Growth to 4th Quarter 2008

Source: http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/data/html/08Q4.html

Yes, there’s a dip to the adjusted figures in 2008, due to the economic situation, but the trend continues…

To put some hard figures against this, the Department of Commerce estimate U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the 4th quarter of 2008 was $31.9 billion, while total retail sales were estimated at $938.1 billion – slightly down from the $1 Trillion average.

On an annualised basis this means online sales in the USA are around $125 billion… Add to that worldwide sales and you can see there’s quite a potential for the little people like you and me to be trading successfully online!

So here’s to you and I!

John Thornely
Internet Tycoons

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