Digital shopping channels are undeniably a growing trend among bargain hunters, special occasion shoppers, and even shoppers looking for everyday merchandise, enticing many brick and mortars to try their hand at a B2C site. The web has become a powerful resource for fast browsing and convenient purchasing, and as a result, ecommerce merchants continue to generate the most sales. According to an analysis of 100 web only merchants, 59 retail chains, 27 catalog and call centers, and 14 consumer brand manufacturers for the forthcoming 2012 Top 500 Guide, ecommerce merchants make up the fastest growing Top 500 merchant category.
Store based retailers even found better success through their associated online business, as seen in the combined web sales of brick and mortar retailers, growing about 14.4 percent to $37.45 billion last year, from $32.73 billion in 2010. Catalogers posted the lowest growth rate among all Top 500 merchant types in 2011, growing web sales with 13.1 percent year over year, to $6.58 billion from $5.82 billion. Web only merchants have seen a collective sales increase year over year of 35.6 percent, from $46.55 billion in 2010 to $63.11 billion in 2011. While the results include Amazon.com, whose sales grew nearly 41 percent last year, ecommerce merchants still saw recognizable growth. This story is adapted from an article on InternetRetailer.com.