U.S. online retail sales to hit $172B this year

According to Shop.Org and Forrester Research U.S. online retail sales will hit $172B this years. Study results show that cosmetics, fragrances and other categories focused at women are expected to grow 33 percent. Also, study results show that sales of jewelry and luxury goods (31%) and flowers, cards, and gifts (30%) are expected to rise.

The report predicts that online sales (including travel) will rise 22.0 percent to $172.4 billion this year. Sales excluding travel are expected to reach $109.6 billion.

"Though initially adopted by men as a shopping tool, women are flocking to the Internet in droves to comparison shop, research, and buy," said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. "Online retailers who sell products that are purchased by women are in a favorable position this year, as we expect those categories to grow substantially."

Also, good news for e-commerce industry is that profitability continues to climb.

"With profitability behind them, retailers can now focus on innovation and growth through things like increased integration of their online and offline businesses and internationalization of their sites," said Carrie Johnson, lead author of the report and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. "One way retailers will grow sales over the next several years will be by launching country-specific sites and operations to accommodate a growing number of international customers."