PCs take backseat to fashion online

For the first time in history, American online shoppers spent more money on clothing than they did on computers, a new report out today said.

At Internet retail stores, Americans spent $18.3 billion on apparel, accessories and footwear in 2006, compared with $17.2 billion on computers, said the report, which was conducted by Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge for Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, a trade group for retailers.

In this annual report, online sales for computer hardware and software were long the front-runner for non-travel online sales, Shop.org said.

The report projects that 2007 online sales for all items and services will rise 18 percent to $259 million and that 10 percent of all clothing sales will occur online this year.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)