Forrester: US online retail market to reach $327 billion in 2016

The latest survey report released by the US market research organization Forrester on February 28, 2012 shows that the size of the US online retail market will reach 327 billion US dollars by 2016, and its share of the entire retail market will increase from 7% to 9% during the same period.

The report believes that the increasing number of users shopping online is an important reason for the growth of online retail in the United States. Data shows that 167 million people in the United States (53% of the total U.S. population) bought things online last year. This number is expected to increase to 192 million people by 2016, accounting for 56% of the total U.S. population. Forrester also predicts that the average annual online shopping expenditure of American users will increase from $1,207 per person in 2011 to $1,738 in 2016.

In addition, users will face more and more choices when purchasing various goods online. In a survey conducted by Forrester in 2001, it was found that only three of the 30 retail categories had online sales accounting for more than 20% of total sales. This number increased to eight categories in 2011 and is expected to increase to 14 categories by 2016.

Thanks to the increased shopping capabilities of mobile and tablet computers, Americans are also finding it easier than ever to shop online. Innovative online shopping models and customer loyalty programs, such as flash sale sites like Gilt and Woot and subscription programs like Amazon Prime, coupled with large-scale promotions, will continue to eat into the market share of physical stores.

This trend is especially pronounced during periods of deep discounts like Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, during which 75% of US users say they have purchased something online because they were getting a better deal.

Forrester estimates that total online sales in Europe will reach 171 billion euros (about 230 billion U.S. dollars) by 2016, compared with 96.7 billion euros (about 130 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011.