NFL Jersey, NFL gear, and apparel store, Off The Hook Sports.com highlights shopping trends for its 50,000 item team store and market predictions for 2006

Off The Hook Sports.com research highlights that overall online shopping this holiday is expected to surpass last year's record numbers. Juniper research has forecasted 20% growth this holiday season with an estimated $79 billion in sales in comparison to last year's record breaking $66 billion dollars in sales. Juniper research also predicts online sales will exceed the $117 billion dollar mark by 2008. Currently 30% of internet users do a majority of their shopping online. This number is expected to increase to 50% by 2008! 2.5 million new customers will do their shopping online this year according to Forrester research. Offthehooksports.com is an online sports store offering 50,000 officially licensed team items from the NFL, NBA,MLB, NHL, NCAA and NASCAR. Best seller categories include: NFL Jersey, NFL Jerseys, NFL Apparel, NFL clothes, NFL Clothing NFL Shirts, NFL Caps, NFL Hats, NFL gifts and NFL merchandise. OffTheHookSports.com has launched one of internet’s largest online sporting goods stores with all 32 NFL teams represented. Off The Hook Sports has launched a state of the art online sports shop with over 50,000 team items from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA and NASCAR. The NFL is by far the best seller of all the leagues. According to License Magazine, the NFL is the world’s most popular brand and is the 7th largest brand overall. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA combined to peak out at $13.8 billion in licensed team goods in 1996 and rounded out back to a ‘normal’ year of 10.5 billion. The NFL is responsible for $3.2 billion in annual retail sales of the $10 billion sports market according to Mary Brochstein from Licensing Letter. The fastest growing segment of the NFL is womens apparel. According to the USA today, 40% of NFL fans are women and they account for about 5% of the NFL licensing revenue. NFL team merchandiser, Steve Strawbrigade, recently sold 45,000 PINK Philadelphia Eagles NFL caps in an online promotion. The numbers are staggering!
Over $3.8 billion was spent on apparel last year and the forecast is expected to surpass that mark this year according to Tim Gray from E-Commerce. Online shopping is expected to climb this year because of the extremely high fuel and heating costs. Consumers will want to take advantage of the hefty retail discounts available online along with the shipping specials that are expected to be offered to consumers. Offthehooksports.com offers a flat rate of $4.99 shipping no matter how many items or how large the order is. This is a tremendous savings for consumers and they would spend more than that in gasoline and their time in driving to the mall to shop. Also, online shopping sites have become much easier to use and navigate this year. Offthehooksports.com is able to offer over 50,000 items from the NFL, NBA, MLB and NCAA in an easy to use format and a flat shipping rate. Consumers are showing their trust and confidence in their internet shopping behavior. Off The Hook Sports.com features similar items and pricing to NFL.com, www.nfl.com, The Sports Authority, The Sports Authority.com, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dicks Sporting Goods.com, Footlocker, Footlocker.com, Finishline, Finishline.com, ESPN Shop, ESPNShop.com, MVP.com, Fog Dog.com, Modells.com, Sport Mart, Sportmart.com, Eastbay and Eastbay.com. Some of the best selling jerseys, replicas, authentic jerseys, throwbacks, swingman jerseys, t-shirts, caps and fitted hats from top name manufacturers: Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Russell, Champion etc are available at online stores such as www.OffTheHookSports.com. A fan favorite jersey from Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Warren Sapp, Priest Holmes, Tom Brady and Brett Favre are some of the Best Seller Items on Offthehooksports.com. Best Selling NFL clothing, jerseys and apparel are from the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Most searched NFL items and words on internet according to Biz Rate.com are: Steelers, NFL jersey, Cheerleader, Jerseys, NFL apparel, Redskins, Chicago, NFL jerseys, NFL clothing, Dallas Cowboys, Patriots, Jersey, Throwback, Steeler, Football Jerseys, NFL jacket, NFL, NFL.com, NFL com, Miami, Throwback Jerseys, Cheerleader uniforms, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Personalized NFL Jersey, Bedding Sets, Christmas Ornament, NFL T Shirts, Sports wear, infant jerseys, NFL memorabilia, Youth jerseys, official jerseys, kids NFL jersey, sports jerseys, NFL baby, fitted caps, gifts football, football gifts, NFL blankets, Green Bay Packers, Apparel NFL, Jersey throwback, authentic NFL jerseys, sports bobbleheads. All in all, the internet has proven itself as a successful tool and has the momentum to be the preferred way to shop for anything from an NFL jersey to a NFL Christmas ornament. Online shopping is here to stay and the numbers prove it. Stores such as Offthehooksports.com and their technology and website functionality and flat rate shipping will help drive more consumers to do their NFL shopping online in 2006 and beyond!