• by December 22, 2000

The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Forrester Research, Inc., in conjunction with Greenfield Online, Inc., has announced the results of the latest NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index. According to the 11th survey in this monthly series, total spending on online sales increased from $4.4 billion in October to nearly $6.4 billion in November. More than 22 million households shopped online in November, spending an average of $285 per person.

Categories that experienced a significant increase included toys, sporting goods, and apparel. Online sales of toys and videogames soared from $203 million in October to $673 million in November. Online sales of sporting goods shot from $68 million in October to $152 million in November. Similarly, apparel leapt from $253 million in October to $525 million in November.

"Last month, online sales alone exceeded combined sales in November and December 1999 by more than 25% -- or $1.4 billion," said Scott Silverman, VP of Internet retailing at NRF. "Even if December 2000 is equal or even slightly lower than November, we can still expect online spending in 2000 to more than double last year's performance."

Sales of food and beverages, books, and music also grew significantly in November. Food and beverages increased from $158 million in October to $305 million in November. Books increased to $383 million in November from $205 million in October. Music grew from $146 million in October to $257 million in November.

"Obviously, the holiday has been a strong driver of November's booming online sales," said James L. McQuivey, research director at Forrester. "Since the Index is nearly a year old, we are almost at the point of being able to compare year-to-year sales-analysis that will provide insight into how other holidays and various external influences affect consumer online shopping habits."