U.S. online retail sales may have bottomed

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. online retail sales may have hit bottom for the year, but a return to the double-digit growth of past years is unlikely amid the current economic turmoil and uncertainty, comScore said on Thursday.

In a Web seminar focussing on the online economy through 2009's first quarter, the Internet research firm compared zero growth in the first quarter, as reported earlier this month, with a 3 percent dip in the holiday fourth-quarter.

"We'll see things get better as we go through '09," said Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "But I don't think we'll see double-digit growth rates in '09, and hope we'll see growth rates of 5 percent or so in the second half of the year."

"The good news is I think we bottomed out," he said. "We're not seeing a continuation of a trend downward."

Fears of unemployment, consumers continuing to save and recent higher gas prices are still putting a damper on online retail sales, which nevertheless continue to perform better than sales at brick-and-mortar retailers.

Job security was the top economic concern named by respondents from all income levels who participated in a comScore survey, with mid- to low-income earners equally concerned about prices.

A decline in gasoline prices this fall and winter has now shifted, and gas prices up are 11 percent in April versus March, Fulgoni said.

"That has not gone unnoticed by consumers and is causing a little blip in consumer confidence."