Research firm Forrester this morning announced its forecasts for the online retail industry in both the US and Western Europe this morning. No surprise: Forrester expects both markets to grow steadily over the next few years – not an unsafe bet by any means.
Forrester estimates that both US and European online retail (representing 17 Western European nations) will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate from 2010 to 2015, reaching $279 billion and €134 billion, respectively, in 2015.
Growth will be driven in both regions by new business models such as flash sales and group buying, as well as improved merchandising to provide a broad selection of products available online, Forrester says. Also read: How E-Commerce Got its Groove Back.
In Western Europe, the online retail market grew 18 percent from 2009 to 2010 and is projected to grow 13 percent from 2010 to 2011, but Forrester forecasts that growth rates will slow down a bit after that, as the market matures and buyer penetration begins to level off.
Noteworthy sidenote from Forrester Research: the firm says brick-and-mortar stores will get seriously challenged by the continual rise of online retail as a whole. You heard it here first.
(Image credit: Flickr / Robert Couse-Baker)
