At the peak of the Internet frenzy and tech bubble in 1999, there were a lot of grand forecasts being thrown around about online retailing.  Amazon was going to rule the world and all the other e-tailers were going to stick it to the brick-and-mortar stores.  Now that we have some wisdom of experience from the past 7 years, go tell that to EToys and the other cyber stores that are less than virtual, in fact, most of them no longer exist.   But what about those forecasts from the good old days that threw around figures like 600% growth?  I decided to research what was said back then and compare that to actual results.  Amazingly, Forrester’s numbers turned out to be pretty accurate, and I’ll have a greater respect for their estimates from now on.

Cyber Monday is hyped as being the biggest online shopping day of the year, which is a myth by the way.  According to comScore, it is usually about number 10.  But if you are sitting there at your desk this Monday morning and get the urge to start buying some more goodies, I wish you luck.  If nothing else, you’ll contribute to some great statistics or forecasts for future online sales.