California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
 
This holiday season, consumers are expected to spend nearly $52 billion on online
holiday shopping. 

Forrester Research is predicting a 16 percent increase over 2009. That's twice the
8 percent growth rate that occurred in 2009 in response to the global recession
according to a report by the firm.  And according to the report, consumers plan to
do 37 percent of their holiday shopping online, up from 30 percent last year.

"Consumers are showing a willingness to spend this season," said Sucharita Mulpuru,
a Forrester vice president and principal analyst. "Online retailers are primed to
react to this year's holiday trends, initiating aggressive promotional programs to
drive holiday sales -- exceeding even the discounts of previous years," she said.

This year, Comscore is predicting a 13 percent jump in ecommerce sales from a year
ago to just more than $9 billion for the weekend.

And according to the consulting firm ChannelAdvisor, a Morrisville, North Carolina
based company; the hot picks for gifts for 2010 specifically for younger kids are
Squinkies and Zoobles. And for older kids, Paper Jamz.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.