Forrester’s Mulpuru: 2013 great year for e-commerce; 2014 even better

With average web growth of 29 percent, 2013 was a great year for e-commerce, and “2014 promises to be even better,” according to Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

Mulpuru previewed findings from Forrester’s upcoming “State of Retailing Online 2014: Key Metrics and Initiatives” study during her “First Look: 2014 Outlook for Digital Retail” presentation at Retail’s BIG Show, pointing to the web’s increasing influence on total retail sales this year and beyond. Mulpuru said we’ll reach close to $300 billion in online direct sales in 2014, but that “the really interesting number” is the additional $1.4 trillion of retail sales that will be influenced by the web in some way this year. Following an uneven holiday season and amid as-yet tenuous consumer confidence, that’s welcome news for retailers.