Cnet and MarketingVox report about a new report from "Forrester Research".

U.S. online retail sales will almost double from $172 billion in 2005 to $329 billion in 2010, according to that new report from Forrester Research.

Travel will remain the top category, with revenue reaching $119 billion in 2010, or a nearly 90 percent increase over the $63 billion expected in 2005. Revenue from online sales of general merchandise in 2005 will cross the $100 billion threshold.

Categories expected to see a gain in the coming years include health and beauty products – predicted to grow at an annual rate of 22 percent – and small appliances. That category should see 29 percent of its sales move online by the end of the decade, as today's Internet-saturated youth begin to get married and attend weddings, Forrester predicted.

DMNews says:

65 percent of North American online households have researched a product online. Online consumers also continue to diversify their shopping-related activities: 42 percent have e-mailed a customer service inquiry; 33 percent have tracked a package; 28 percent have searched for free offers and coupons; and 22 percent visit comparison-shopping engines.

Several online marketing trends are predicted:

On the marketing side, several trends will support the growth:

• Pure online shops such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com and Bluenile.com will continue to innovate their sites to compete for shoppers.

• more manufacturers will launch e-commerce sites once they absorb information such as that 27 percent of Web buyers have purchased from a manufacturer site.

• with 25% of online consumers they predict another online auction trend…