Online sales could overtake catalog sales within 18 months, according to the 2005 Abacus Multi-Channel Retail Annual Trend Report, released yesterday, reports DM News. Multi-channel direct sales totaled $23.4 billion in 2004, up 10 percent from 2003, with web-based sales accounting for 38 percent of those sales. That compares with 32 percent in 2003 and 28 percent in 2002, leading Abacus to estimate that online sales would overtake catalog sales within 18 months.

Although the number of purchasing households remained at 55 million in 2004, growth resulted from an 11 percent rise in buying frequency and an 8 percent increase in the amount spent per household.