E-commerce sales growth
2014 – $294 billion2015 – $325 billion2016 – $355 billion2017 – $385 billion2018 – $414 billionSource: Estimates of e-commerce sales by Forester Research.
Chattanooga consumer spending is expected to outpace inflation again this year. But much of that growth won’t help local merchants.
Many people simply aren’t shopping like they used to, reluctant to leave their couch or to spend time browsing through traditional brick-and-mortar retailers in favor of buying products quicker online on their phone or computer.
The shift from bricks to clicks is helping fuel the growth of Amazon and other online businesses which have already added thousands of jobs in Chattanooga. But the fallout from the growth in e-commerce is also taking its toll on conventional retailers.
E-commerce has grown its share of all retail sales from 5.1 percent five years ago to 8.4 percent by the end of 2016 and experts expect the growth in online sales to continue to outpace brick-and-mortar sales.