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Online sales slow
Tough times affect growth rates...

By Justin Madubuko

Published: Friday 31 August 2001

Online sales in the US in the second quarter fell by 1.8 per cent from the previous quarter to $7.46bn, according to a Department of Commerce report.

The decline is the second consecutive quarterly drop in online sales. An earlier decline was in contrast to the annually strong fourth quarter.

The fall is a sign that the dazzling growth of internet commerce in its early years is coming to an end.

However, online sales in Q2 were up nearly 25 per cent in comparison to the corresponding quarter a year ago, but this was a slower growth rate than the 37 per cent year-on-year growth in Q1.

For online retailers such as Amazon.com, which have seen their sales growth rates drop in recent months, the report comes as bad news.

The US government's survey does not include transactions at online brokerages, event tickets or airline tickets - one of the fastest growing online categories.