First-quarter United States Internet Shopping sales rose 23.8 percent to $19.8 billion in the United States from $16 billion a year ago. US Online Shopping sales during the first quarter rose 6.4 percent from the fourth quarter, when they were $18.6 billion. In the United States, Internet shopping accounted for 2.2 percent of total retail sales in the first quarter, when those sales were an estimated $916.9 billion.
Online shopping conversion rates are rising among online retailers – with 21% of retailers, nearly twice as many as last year, reporting rates of 2-3% -- but 90% of retailers have cart abandonment rates higher than 10%. 41% of respondents said their conversion rates were higher than last year, while only 23% said rates were about the same. 70% of respondents said their US online shopping conversion rates were 2% or higher; 49% said their rates were 3% or higher; 35% said their rates were 4% or higher.
Almost 30% of US consumers who go on the Internet do not buy products online. The biggest obstacle is concern about the safety of entering credit card information on the Web — 62% cited this as a deterrent. Over 50% of respondents said that they'd prefer to see an item in person before buying it. Factors related to delivery, such as cost, product condition after shipping and waiting time until delivery, all ranked lower. About one-quarter of respondents preferred to research online but go shopping offline.
28% of North Americans who go online for other reasons don’t buy there, for a variety of reasons. 62% of non-buying online consumers polled said concerns about giving credit card information over the Internet held them back, while 55% cited the inability to see an item personally before buying. 25% of non-online buyers said they prefer to research online but buy in a store. 22% cited delivery costs, 21% cited “horror stories heard about online shopping,” and 17% don’t buy online because they aren’t confident the product will arrive in good condition. 12% didn’t want to have to wait for the item to be delivered; others cited a variety of additional reasons. |
