Free shipping key to online retailers amid recession and as holidays approach -- chicagotribune.com

Online shopping, long a bright spot in retail, has hit a bump in the cyber road.

E-commerce retail sales, excluding travel, fell 2 percent to $29.6 billion in the third quarter compared to a year ago, marking the first time on record that online sales have tumbled two quarters in a row, according to a report released Thursday from ComScore Inc...