Ecommerce is continuing to increase about 17 percent year over year and will likely account for $200 billion in sales in 2012, according to a presentation at the Women’s Wear Daily Digital Forum.

Based on holiday sales from 2011, retailers should be looking to spend more of their budget on Internet promotions and start earlier than they would for retail store campaigns. MasterCard believes that in January online sales may take a 20 percent share of total retail sales as the weather keeps people from venturing to bricks-and-mortar stores.

“You are looking at really substantial numbers here,” said Michael McNamara, global solution leader at MasterCard Spending Pulse, New York. “[Online] is where the money is, it’s where the growth is and it’s where your strategies and online dollars should be, both last year and for the next few years.

“The trends I’m monitoring right now don’t seem to be slowing down,” he said. “In fact, they seem to accelerating in many places.” read more

Kayla Hutzler
www.luxurydaily.com/ecommerce-sales-to-reach-200b-in-2012-mastercard-spending-pulse/