Will 2010’s sales growth continue in 2011?

Q: What predictions do you have for retail growth in 2011? Will we continue to see the sales rate we saw last year?

A: I expect sales to be up around 7 to 8 percent in 2011 (among brick-and-mortars), which is a bit lower than the 10 percent growth rate we saw this last year. This is because we are already two years into the retail recovery and we can’t expect to grow at the same rate as we have in the past, given that we are going against stronger numbers from last year.

Established online retailers will fare even better, and could be up by as much as 25 to 30 percent in 2011. Online retailers have really shown their strengths in terms of promotions, merchandising and marketing over the last couple of years so there’s no reason why they would lose their momentum.