Online Retailers Deliver the Goods

Whether they’re looking for 14-karat gold rings or 14-bit drill sets, consumers are flocking in record numbers to the Internet to buy products. The question is, can Web retailers handle the increasingly heavy traffic effectively?

Last year, cyber-shopping went from marginal to mainstream, as 73 percent of consumers bought products online, according to a survey by AT&T. And by next year, global Web sales are expected to reach $51.6 billion, according to a survey by Jupiter Media Metrix, a research firm.