The Winners and Losers of the Recession's Online Shopping

The economy hasn't recovered, but that hasn't stopped people form getting their shop on -- this is consumerist America, after all. When the market tanked, buying slowed, but a lot of the purchasing that did happen migrated online, explains The Wall Street Journal's Stu Woo. "More people are shopping online than ever, partly because many consumers shifted their spending online during the recession." Online sales are predicted by a Forrester analyst to rise 11 percent in 2011, continues Woo.

Shoppers headed to the Internet to find the best deals. From flash-deal sites like Gilt Groupe and Groupon to more old school retailers like Amazon.com, shopping has turned virtual. But it turns out that not all online retailers are equal. After over two-years of recession, certain Web models have succeeded while others are floundering.

The tanking economy changed consumer spending habits, and high-end flash deal sites like Gilt Groupe preyed on the shopping addictions of Americans with money, explains The New York Times' Clair Cain Miller and Jenna Wortham. "People still want to shop, but in the privacy of their homes," Susan Feldman, a founder of home decor deal site One Kings Lane told Miller and Wortham. "They just don't want to be seen walking down the street carrying a Bloomingdale's or Barneys or Bergdorf bag."

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.