02-12-2007, 11:32 AM
Quote: When it comes to online retail, footwear has been a step behind the categories driving e-commerce--items such as computers, books, music, toys and clothing. Now shoes are moving into the mainstream...
"Apparel was the big behemoth," said Catherine Beaudoin, senior vice president and general manager of Piperlime. "It's falling like dominoes. Shoes are probably one of the last bastions because the feeling has been you have to try on shoes to feel comfortable."
In 2002 online footwear sales, at $954 million, were about one-fifth the size of the $4.4 billion online apparel business, according to Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. Last year, footwear had surged to $2.9 billion, or about one-third the size of the $9.6 billion sold in apparel.
And there is more growth ahead. Online shoe sales are projected to increase 22 percent in 2007, to $3.5 billion...
full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/c...siness-hed
