Online shopping saves on gas prices

Well, that's a new angle to recession & increased fuel prices - shop online. Relevant article from New York times citing Gap. Victoria's Secret, Sears & JC Penney: "With gas being such an issue, we know that mall traffic is down more than off-mall traffic,” said Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer for J. C. Penney, which had an 8.7 percent increase in Internet sales in the first quarter of this year.

That is in contrast to a 7.4 percent decrease in sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales and a measure of retail health. “We see more people turning to online because it’s much more efficient in terms of time and money,” Mr. Boylson said.

"Victoria’s Secret's ....catalog and Internet sales were up 11 percent in the first quarter of this year while same-store sales declined 8 percent. Gap had an 11 percent decline in same-store sales in the first quarter, but a 21 percent increase in online sales."