Dan Hesse Online Quotations

Online travel sales fared even better this year. The sector was up 35 percent versus 2002 and has more than more than doubled since 2001. Non-travel sales recovered impressively from war-related softness early in the year, with 2003 posting a healthy 22 percent total increase over 2002.

Last year, online retail totaled over $65 billion, up 26% over the prior year. That doesn't include auctions and travel, which take the number well over $100 billion.

We believe consumers' growing familiarity and confidence with online shopping, coupled with a dramatic increase in broadband penetration and continuing efforts by retailers to simplify the shopping process across channels, will translate to substantial gains for online merchants again this year.

We've just closed another great year in online commerce. Consumers spent an average of $200 million per day throughout November and December, bringing holiday growth to just about the top end of our forecast of 25 to 30 percent.

While it's clear that a broad range of online merchants saw a strong season, multi-channel retailers were standouts this year. Many of the nation's leading retail brands flexed their muscle this season, with strategies including faster delivery options, significant site redesigns and effective cross-channel promotions.

The biggest surprise to us this year was the late-season surge in the week before Christmas. This occurred at a time when we usually see a pronounced drop-off in purchases. Instead, we saw a 57 percent growth surge driven by people buying online and picking up in stores as well as the commitment by online merchants to deliver in time.