Internet shopping could account for half of Britain’s £300 billion-a-year retail market by as early as 2018 after coming of age this Christmas, it was predicted yesterday.James Roper, the chief executive of Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), the internet retail monitor, said that the pace of change would be unprecedented over the next decade, as stores have been left with little choice but to improve significantly their online offering to protect sales.He argued that town planners were already taking the web into account, given the potential need for parcel distribution depots on the outskirts of cities and big towns.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article3105788.ece