Public hits the brakes on online shopping

If your company depends on online sales, it could be a bleak holiday season for you. A new study by research firm comScore funds that online retail's runaway growth has hit a wall. E-commerce sales have been steadily dropping this year--2 percent in the third quarter, according to comScore.

Although this does not sound like much, the decline is expected to continue until the economy is out of the dumps.

"It's not pretty at all out there," Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, tells the Washington Post. "The consumer just doesn't have spending power."

There are some bright spots, though. Amazon's stock shot up 27 percent last week after it reported excellent third-quarter earnings driven by low prices and the growing popularity of Kindle. But other online retails didn't do as well. eBay's marketplace division fell 1 percent in the most recent quarter.

It's a far cry from the more than 20 percent growth of the last several years that created the $130 billion online industry. Experts expect an uptick next year. The question is when?

For more on falling online sales:
- see this Washington Post article

Related Articles:
The perils of online shopping
One on one with Alex Yoder of Webtrends
Do your customers trust you online?