Online Shopping up 25% This Holiday Season

Very interesting to see how ecommerce is becoming more and more of a mainstay in the way we purchase things. I seriously doubt we'll ever do away with stores and malls--us humans need to see and interact--we're just too darn social.

An interesting alternative to stores would be product showrooms that allow people to go try out a product, look at it, touch it, feel it, then at their leisure make the actual purchase decision at home from the accompanying website.

I think the real winners from all the increase in online commerce has got to be FedEx, UPS, and DHL. You might find a great deal on a product normally costing $11.99 at Target but for $9.99 online at say Amazon or Ebay but then pay an additional $5.72 for shipping. Is this extra $5.72 worth the cost of time driving to Target, gas money, and wear and tear on your vehicle? More and more people are saying yes.

online shoppers in the U.S. spent $23.2 billion during the 2004 holiday season read more...