Online Sales Due to Plateau, Analysts Say
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By Mark Albright, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.  Feb. 2--KISSIMMEE -- Internet shopping sales soared 24 percent to  $100-billion in 2006, but it's hardly blues skies on the industry horizon.
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U.S. chain store sales fell for the third consecutive week, as on-line shopping and gift cards continue to cut into weekly sales figures, a report said on Tuesday.
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U.S. chain store sales fell for the  third consecutive week, as on-line shopping and gift cards  continue to cut into weekly sales figures, a report said on  Tuesday.
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Investor's Business Daily - Market News' retail trade index bounced 3.7 points to a still-weak 41.5 in the Oct. 27 week. Readings below 50 signal more chains are reporting slowing conditions. Same-store year-on-year sales growth is very weak at 0.7%, with total sales growth at 4.1%. Income is also weak, with 43% of the sample reporting declines vs. 40% reporting gains. Retailers blamed housing woes.
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EBay was the online winner this "Black Friday," data published on Saturday showed, but overall Internet traffic growth was well below last year's even as bargain hunters tracked down sought-after toys and electronics on the Web before "Cyber Monday."
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Publishers are hoping that online growth will compensate for some of the decline from the print side.
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Sales rise, but earnings and margins are on the fritz.
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Researchers report Web shoppers are busier and happier than last year, as the holiday arrives and online sales finally slow.
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This season&#39;s dismal holiday-sales numbers may be hiding strong results from online operations, home improvement, consumer electronics and luxury stores that can offset the nation&#39;s mall malaise.
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TechWeb - LAS VEGAS - U.S. video game industry sales growth is expected to slow in 2008 as accelerated demand for software is tempered by a decline in hardware revenue, the Consumer Electronics Association said Saturday.
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Publishers tout their online strategies and efforts to rein in costs as print advertising revenue falls.
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Analysts have offered their latest judgment of the Christmas shopping season: good, but not great, although online sales set records.
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(InfoWorld) - A slowing U.S. economy may already be impacting Yahoo's Web advertising sales growth, the head of the company said Tuesday, a trend that does not bode well for other ad-supported Internet sites. "We're seeing some slowing in perhaps two of the largest sectors, both autos and financial services," said Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive officer of Yahoo, in response to questions at a Goldman Sachs conference. Advertising sales from both sectors have slowed down during the past three to four weeks, although both remain on a growth track. "They're growing, but they're not growing as quickly as we would have hoped at this moment in time," said Semel. The comments sparked a sell-off in Yahoo shares, which plunged 11.2 percent, or $3.25, to close at $25.75 each during normal trading hours. Other Internet stocks suffered from the comments, with Google shares falling 2.6 percent to $403.81, and eBay stock ending 3.3 percent lower to finish the day at $25.95. Yahoo loweredÂ its third quarter outlook to the lower end of its guidance. The company had forecast revenue, excluding commissions, to be in the range of $1.12 billion to $1.23 billion this quarter. A slowdown in advertising growth on the Internet could hurt the development of new Web sites in the near term, since so much content depends on advertising sales to support operations. But Yahoo was careful to note that it cannot tell whether the current slowdown is a sign of broader trouble or is limited to ads from the auto and financial sectors. The company also noted that while the weakness in advertising showed up in some of the most economically sensitive categories, it's not necessarily a sign of a slowing U.S. economy. "It's too early to tell if this is a sign of anything broader," said Susan Decker, head of finance at Yahoo, who attended the conference with Semel. An audio Web cast of comments by the two Yahoo executives can beÂ accessed here.
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Sales slow, margins contract -- but the price is nice.
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Lately, the company's retail operation has been lagging behind sales of its locations.
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Global music sales slipped again in 2004, but after four years of declines the record publishers will see the return of growing revenues in 2005 due to online stores and music DVDs, a survey found on Monday.
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Music sales last year are expected to be down by 10% despite the growing popularity of the digital music market.