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January Web sales $2.8B
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March 1, 2000: 1:20 p.m. ET
New monthly report shows post-holiday online shopping explosion continues
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. consumers spent $2.8 billion shopping online in January, according to the first new monthly report released Wednesday that tracks e-commerce sales.
The NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index, compiled by the National Retail Federation, a trade group, and Forrester Research, a technology research firm, said that in January, a month when retail sales typically slacken, consumers spent about half as much online as they did for the entire holiday season.
"We're very excited about the data," said Scott Silverman, NRF vice- president for Internet retailing. "We feel there's a lot of value in collecting this information from consumers in a very frequent and consistent way that is methodologically sound."
Silverman said he hopes businesses and consumers will use the report, which will be released about the 15th of each month, to better track online retail sales.
The numbers also jibe with Forrester studies that show online spending has exploded from $2.4 billion for all of 1997 to $8 billion in 1998 and $20.2 billion last year.
Seema Williams, a senior retailing analyst for Forrester Research, said the strong numbers did not surprise her, and credited the Internet for helping retailers post stronger-than-usual January sales for the past two years.
"Once consumers get engaged in online shopping it tends to stick," Williams said. "They're shifting more of their spending to online. I think what we're seeing is the same kind of strength as there is in offline retailing."
Online growth spurs greater sales
Analysts said the numbers reflect the growing presence of e-commerce and the increasing comfort level of consumers as they get used to the idea of shopping on the Internet.
"E-commerce is growing exponentially, and it is not at all unreasonable to think that simply because the store essentially, or a whole horizon of stores, happens to be right on your desk, that shopping is made so much easier than before," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report."
NRF and Forrester hope the new report, believed to be the first that tracks only Internet sales, will help identify what consumers are buying and how much they are spending online.
The report, based on the results of 5,000 responses to an online panel surveyed by Greenfield Online during the first 10 business days of February, showed that consumers spent the most on airline tickets, nearly $318 million.
Next, consumers spent the same amount for computer hardware and books, more than $224 apiece. Third on the list was computer software, for which shoppers forked over $187 million, closely followed by the $182 million spent on apparel.
Hotel reservations accounted for $164 million, toys and video games $146 million, and music $143 million.
Barnard said concerns about Internet privacy eventually will fade as Web sites improve and online shopping becomes even more established. 
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