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Forrester predicts an e-commerce boom

March 13, 2013

E-commerce is expected to increase 13 percent to $262 billion this year, according to technology and market research firm Forrester.

E-commerce already accounts for about 8 percent of total retail sales in the U.S. and is expected to outpace sales growth at bricks-and-mortar stores over the next five years, according to a Mashable post on the research, reaching $370 billion in sales by 2017 — or a full tenth of all retail sales in the United States.

Forrester lists two factors contributing to the growth of e-commerce:

1. The proliferating use of smartphones and tablets, which boost amount of time consumers spend online
2. The growth of traditional retailers' increased investments in their online divisions

Read more about online retail.