According to Brafton News, retail ecommerce sales reached an estimated $43.4 Billion at the end of 2010. Although the average purchase amount did not increase, the total sales figure is an eleven percent increase from 2009, which may indicate that online retailers are slowly recovering from the effects of the recent recession.
ComScore also reported that the total number of online buyers also increased in 2010, as 84% of Internet users in the United States reportedly purchased items online. Larger online retailers made up for 69.9% of online purchase revenue, with the rest coming from medium to small online businesses.
Internet-based advertising is expected to increase in 2011 as retailers attempt to reach new customers via social networks, coupon offers, and other methods.
All in all, this news should be encouraging to both new and established independent e-merchants, as it indicates that online spending is up, and interest in purchasing items from a variety of online retail sources appears to be up as well.