While some reports are still (mildly) bullish on e-commerce, its growth has rapidly slowed to a crawl with the bad economy. And as a percentage of overall retail sales it remains flat. We may not see e-commerce crack 5% of US retail for years at this rate:
Meanwhile, the IAB reported Q3 numbers for online advertising yesterday:
Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007. While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance. The Q3 2008 figures, published in the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, are 2 percent higher than the Q2 2008 results. Set against strong economic headwinds in the U.S. economy, Q3 ’08’s $5.9 billion represents nonetheless the second-highest quarter results ever. For the first nine months of 2008, revenues totaled $17.3 billion, up from $15.2 billion in the same period a year ago and surpassing the record set in the first nine months of 2007 by nearly 14 percent.
As the local inventory data gets more complete and pushes out into mobile we’ll see digital media being used more and more for research and product location (and deals) information. No name e-commerce sites (vs. retailers or Amazon/eBay) will need to increasingly compete on price to retain business.
Comparison engines are used for price and reviews information and very seldom for buying by consumers.
