Are Online Sales Actually Going to Decline in 2008?

We know there is an economic downturn. That is probably and understatement. No one expected online shopping to be immune, but most just expected tempered growth- slow growth or break-even rather than the unprecedented meteoric rise in years past.

The Wall Street Journal has a post about the forecast for the end of 2008 and figures for the year so far. The news does not look good.

Online sales actually dipped during the first 23 days of November. I guess it might be too soon to write-off the holiday season.

A lot of shoppers may wait until after "black Friday" as they often do. Internet retailers are going after these shoppers as aggressively as ever.

DSL and Cable Internet Both have their Issues

For most people, dialup internet no longer does the job. People who need to download or upload files such as graphics, work on blogs or other websites, or share pictures seek the speed and reliability of DSL or cable.

So the choice often comes down to DSL or Cable? In the past most cable offerings had a much faster download speed while DSL was more economical and associated with the local telephone utility ( which can be good or bad for numerous reasons). Some consumers experienced weather related cable outages that did not affect the phone line but really needed the speed.

Today many DSL offerings are cost and speed competitive and LECs are updating the technology of their lines. With fiber optics taking over it may be worth considering using a higher tier phone company offering especially with the IP TV bundles now available.