in the US, brand manufacturers lose their fear of selling online | via Internet Retailer

"As a group, consumer brand manufacturers have lagged behind Top 500 web-only merchants, catalogers and retail chains in the race for e-commerce sales.

But with more at stake, Top 500 manufacturers, which grew their combined web sales 15.7% to $14.0 billion in 2008 from $12.1 billion in 2007, are leading the pack. When Amazon.com, which accounts for 52.2% of sales among all Top 500 web-only retailers, is factored out, manufacturers stood out as the fastest-growing merchant category."

Read full story at Internet Retailer.