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Washington - US online retail sales are expected to grow to $294bn this year, with nearly one-third of the total from mobile devices, a research firm says.
Forrester Research said on Monday it saw online sales growing at a pace of 9.5% from 2013 to 2018, which would bring total online sales to $414bn, or 11% of all retail sales.
This year, mobile commerce - sales on phones or tablets - are likely to hit 87bn, according to Forrester.
Shipping
"The web keeps doing what it has always done well: it provides huge assortments of products, at comparable, often lower, prices than physical stores, with 24/7 access and often free shipping," said research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.
The figures include 30 retail categories, "and that doesn't even include another $28bn in additional mobile transactions on sites and apps like Uber and Domino's Pizza that aren't even in that aforementioned mobile commerce number."
Concepts
Mulpuru, in a blog post, said the growth in e-commerce did not mean that traditional brick-and-mortar retailing was dead.
"Yes, old store concepts located in B and C centres are absolutely in peril, but fresh new concepts in A properties are doing quite well," she said.
"While there are dying shopping centres that need to be razed and reconstructed as office parks or farmland or whatever, there are malls, even indoor malls, which are doing absolutely fine."
