Boston Consulting Group: Bright future for retail ecommerce

2001-04-02:

B2C sales in the nine leading product categories are expected to soar

to USD168 billion by 2005, up from USD34 million last year, according

to a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Most of this growth will take place in the leisure travel, grocery,

and clothing categories.

BCG maintains that it is traditional retailers which will succeed in

retail ecommerce, as they have the advantages of well-established

brands and existing sales and fulfillment infrastructure.

Catalogers, in particular, should do well as they have extensive

experience in selling to consumers at a distance.

BCG also predicts success for those pure-play retailers that have

already established large-scale businesses, such as Amazon, and for

niche retailers that are targeting a small group of loyal buyers.

The consulting firm advises all online retailers to focus on

leveraging their brand, making the most of their customer

relationships and managing the integration of online and offline sales

channels.