It’s the online retail sector that’s now paying the price of the economic meltdown. Online sales have dampened this season, and it is the worse since 1999.

Analysts are of the view that the forecast for the online sales would be close to 9 percent this year as compared to 19 percent in 2007. The ripple effect of the economic downturn is fast spreading in the online retail with less credit available in the hands of the consumers. However, the online sales still may sail through much more smoothly than the offline ones. Among the online shopping site, Amazon still rules the web followed by Walmart and Target.

Also it is an interesting to observe that it is the high-income group that previously was the most profitable customers in the online shopping sector, are the ones who are thinking twice in spending this holiday season. Their purchase behavior is more value focused. It is only expected after the recent losses in the investment and other economic sectors.

The online retailers are more resilient in the present scenario. Attractive promotional strategies can be injected in the retail sector that can revive the spending nature of the customers. Moreover, value added purchases is what could attract the buyers as study shows that they plan to spend lesser this year. Not all can resist value-focused promotions in the market. After all, everyone is looking for an opportunity to save that extra penny.

Via: TechCrunch