• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 30, 2001

Worldwide Online Holiday Sales

Despite difficult economic conditions and the events of September 11, worldwide online holiday shopping sales are projected to reach $25.3 billion this year, a 39% increase over last year, according to a recently released study conducted between September 26th and October 7th, by Gartner, Inc.

"The increase in online holiday shopping sales will be driven by increases in online users, buyers, and most importantly, the experience level of online buyers, which our research indicates is the single most important predictor of online spending," said Mike Cruz, senior analyst for GartnerG2.

GartnerG2 research presently shows the events of September 11 will have a minor impact on planned spending. Of those who shopped online last year, says Gartner, 80.5% said they are inclined to shop at the same rate online this year, 13.6% said they'll spend less online this holiday season, and 6% said they'll spend more.

Fifty-three percent of online holiday sales, or $13.4 billion, will be made outside of North America compared to 50 percent last year, While North America will continue to lead all regions in online holiday sales, the other regions are showing stronger growth rates.

Worldwide Internet Retailing Sales Forecast Estimate for Fourth Quarter 2001 (Billions of U.S. Dollars)

+---------------+--------+---------+--------+  | Region        |   4Q01 |     Mkt | Growth |  |               |    Rev |   Share |   % vs |  |               |        |     (%) | 4Q2000 |
+---------------+--------+---------+--------+  | North America | $11.86 |   46.9% |  30.0% |  | Europe        |   8.58 |    33.9 |   39.6 |  | Asia/Pacific  |   2.46 |     9.7 |   53.4 |  | Japan
|   1.40 |     5.5 |   68.0 |  | Rest of World |   0.99 |     3.9 |   90.1 |  | Total         |  25.29 |   100.0 |   38.7 |  +---------------+--------+---------+--------+  

Note: Figures Exclude travel-related purchases and movie and event ticket sales. Source: Gartner Dataquest (October 2001)

As of mid-2001, more than 71 million U.S. adults had made an online purchase within a three-month period, a 23% increase from the previous year. As Web sites have increased the functionality and ease of use on their sites, GartnerG2 analysts said consumers are coming back to buy more online.

You can read more at the Gartner site.