E-commerce sales this year are expected to grow anywhere from 16%–18% compared to 2007, according to forecasts from eMarketer, Forrester Research and JupiterResearch. This growth, according to eMarketer, will come from a shift by consumers spending their dollars at traditional retail stores to the Internet.
In fact, SEMA market research data supports this shift in shopping habits. According to SEMA's annual Automotive Lifestyles survey of automotive enthusiast magazine subscribers, the number of consumers that say they purchase specialty-equipment from the Internet has grown by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years.
Specialty-equipment companies stand to realize additional profit by making it easy for consumers to buy products online by either hosting their own "shopping cart" or conveniently linking to distributors that have e-commerce capabilities.
Source: SEMA Research & Information Center