BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Online shoppers in the United Sates spent more on clothing and accessories than on computers for the first time ever, according to a report released Monday.

    The report "The State of Retailing Online 2007" is the tenth issued by the research firm in cooperation with the U.S. National Retail Federation's (NRF) Shop.org network of 600 online retailers. Shop.org is the online arm of NRF, the retail industry trade group.

    Online sales of apparel, accessories and footwear reached 18.3 billion U.S. dollars last year and should hit 22.1 billion dollars this year, according to the Shop.org survey.

    "This is a real milestone in the industry," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. "We have really gone mainstream."

    Meanwhile, computer hardware and software, long the leader for nontravel online sales, moved into second place last year, at 17.2 billion dollars. That was followed by sales of autos and auto parts, whose sales reached 16.7 billion dollars, and home furnishings, which posted sales of 10 billion dollars. Computer peripherals, which reached 1.5 billion dollars in sales last year, were not included in the hardware and software category.

    "As consumers flood the Web to purchase merchandise and research products, online retail is moving full speed ahead," said report author Sucharita Mulpuru in a statement. "This strong growth is an indicator that online retail is years away from reaching a point of saturation."

    The report said that clothing sales are increasing for a variety of reasons, including the fact that more and more companies are offering free shipping on product returns and exchanges. Retailers have also improved Web sites with rich imaging capabilities that allow customers to virtually manipulate the merchandise, the report added.

    (Agencies)