Retailers expect 30% more Xmas online sales

Argentine retailers expect online sales for the Christmas season to increase by 30% compared to Christmas 2002, local daily Clarin reported. Some sites said they even expected ten-fold growth of online sales. Virtual shopping mall Altocity expects 400% growth in billing this year compared to Christmas 2002 and the star product this year appears to be football club shirts, according to Altocity corporate communication manager Marite Mabragana. Tematika, which sells books, films and music, projects only a 15% increase in sales, and has noticed that online purchasing is preferred by buyers who arrange to get their shopping done early in the season. Online buyers are typically from abroad or live far from Argentina's main urban centers. Electrical chain Garbarino expects 30-40% growth, focusing on DVD players and air conditioning machines. Auction site Mercado Libre expects to triple sales this year, with an emphasis on digital cameras, Playstations and mobile phones, although rival site Deremate expects just 20% growth. Argentina has about 130 e-commerce sites, and 5.1 million Internet users, according to the e-commerce chamber.