A recent forecast, published by Forrester, regarding online retail sales made an important reference to Web influence on in-store retail sales.  For those start-ups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs that do not intend to have a web presence, or do not intend to sell their services, crafts, and products online, they should pay attention to these statistics and projections.

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Forrester estimates that while $173 billion worth of consumer goods were bought online last year, a far larger portion of offline, or in-store, sales were influenced by online research.  Forrester estimates that $1,021 trillion worth of retail sales in 2010 were “Web-influenced.”

It also estimates that online and Web-influenced offline sales combined accounted for almost 50 percent of total retail sales.  E-commerce will continue to have a very strong influence on both online and offline sales.

Forrester-Web-Presence-1 Small Business

A logical conclusion to draw from these statistics is that:  whether you sell services or products online, if you do not have a strong geographically targeted web presence and SEO plan, your business will likely struggle.