RAPAPORT... Forrester Research predicted that online retail sales across the U.S. and Western Europe were  poised for a robust period of double-digit growth. Online retail sales in the U.S. will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the next five years to reach nearly $249 billion by 2014, according to the firm. Online retail within the largest European Union (E.U.) nations in Western Europe will grow at an 11 percent rate hitting $155.9 billion (EUR 114 billion) by 2014, Forrester concluded.

"Much of the overall retail sector's growth in both the U.S. and the E.U. over the next five years will come from the Internet," said Forrester Research's vice president, Sucharita Mulpuru. "To maximize that growth, e-business professionals will have to help enable a multichannel strategy that responds to consumers' increased desire to hop between the offline and online worlds and their increasing mobile and social behaviors. The retail innovators over the next five years will demonstrate customer enablement across all touchpoints, not just via a PC-based web browser."

Instead, most retailers fall short in terms of offering a seamless, cross-channel experience, according to Forrester. Even though 82 percent of U.S. consumers were found to be satisfied with their online purchase experiences, satisfaction dropped to 61 percent for consumers who began their research online but made their purchases in a brick-and-mortar store.

Forrester expects that by 2014, online retail sales will account for  8 percent of all retail activity. The current dominant retail categories in the U.S. included apparel, footwear and accessories, consumer electronics and consumer hardware, software and peripherals. Together, these categories represent over 40 percent of total online retail sales conducted in the U.S. Across the E.U., Forrester considered the top categories to be books, event tickets and clothing. 

"There is a clear divide between the countries of northern and southern Europe regarding online retail adoption," said Forrester Research's vice president and research director, Patti Freeman Evans. "While nearly half of U.K. residents regularly make a purchase online, a mere 10 percent of online Spaniards and 11 percent of online Italians do so today. Still, with CAGRS approaching 20 percent in markets like Spain, emerging European e-commerce markets are poised for a vigorous period of growth."