High Gas Prices Drive Shoppers Online

Interestingly, and I suppose logically, the high price of filling up at the tank is creating increased sales at online retailers. The New York Times is reporting that retailers including Gap, Victoria’s Secret and J. C. Penney are seeing double-digit sales growth at their retail Web sites while in store traffic is trending down. “With gas being such an issue, we know that mall traffic is down more than off-mall traffic,” said Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer for J. C. Penney who's seen an 8.7 percent increase in Internet sales in the first quarter of '08. Kris Marubio, a spokeswoman for Gap Inc. says this of the company's new Web design “helps time-pressed and gas-price sensitive parents achieve their back-to-school shopping goals in less time and at less cost,”. With incentives like free shipping a lot of online retailers are bucking the trend and making decision making a whole lot easier for the consumer.

Online retailers benefit from bad weather

Record rainfall has resulted in record breaking sales for online retailers in Britain. The BBC is reporting that online sales for July nearly doubled the mark set last year, up from £2.34bn to £4.2bn. According to the Interactive Media in Retail Group sales gains can also be attributed to improve websites, and faster Internet connections.