Forrester: Sad Tidings We Bring to Your Holiday Earnings

Not that there’s reason to expect anything different, but online retail sales are expected to slow for the first time ever this holiday season, thanks to the lousy economy. That’s the word from Forrester Research (FORR), which expects holiday shoppers to spend $44 billion online this year. That’s a 12 percent increase over 2007, but less than the 18 percent increase the firm saw over 2006. And it’s the slowest rate of growth for online retail to date. Said Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, “While eCommerce has traditionally been resistant to negative offline trends, growing concerns about the stability of the economy are finally affecting consumers’ online shopping decisions.”