E-Tailers Get A Nice Surprise
http://www.techweb.com/tech/e_business/20011113_e_business
January 25, 2002

E-tailers are scratching their heads but grinning all the way
to the bank as the numbers from the recent holiday season come
in. Whether it's because online retailers finally got their
acts together or just that shoppers were afraid to go to the
malls, e-tailing was one of the bright spots this holiday
season. ComScore reports that non-travel online sales hit
$10.8 billion for the fourth quarter and $33.7 billion for
the year, up 20 percent from 2000. Nielsen/NetRatings puts
holiday online spending at $13.8 billion, up 15 percent
from 2000. And Jupiter Media Metrix says the number of unique
shoppers thronging online stores grew a whopping 50 percent
over last year.

And no one benefited more than Amazon.com. The 800-pound
gorilla
of online retailing posted its first-ever profitable
quarter—thanks to record holiday sales. To keep the business
rolling in, Amazon is extending its free-shipping holiday
promotion for orders over $99.

But Amazon isn't alone. According to Jupiter, the fastest
growing online retailers (based on traffic) include Columbia
House, Fingerhut.com, Overstock.com, Officedepot.com,
Apple.com,
BestBuy.com, HP.com, Staples.com, and CircuitCity.com. Early
indications are that sales are rising in the new year, too.

So maybe the Internet isn't totally dead after all, eh?
— Scot Finnie