"The biggest obstacle to growth identified by all the executives we interviewed continued to be speed of internet access, and more specifically lack of affordable access to broadband," said Arthur Goldstuck, the managing director of World Wide Worx. He said the online retail market was dominated by 10 online retail sites: M-Web ShopZone and Digital Mall, online grocers Pick 'n Pay Home Shopping and Woolworths, book retailers Kalahari.net and Exclusive Books, florist NetFlorist, wine retailer Cybercellar, electronics store Digital Planet, and health and beauty store Ascot Direct. World Wide Worx expects a further 20 percent increase in online retail shopping this year. Research firm BMI-TechKnowledge expects broadband users to increase to 870 000 in the next five years from 40 000 last year, on the back of lower internet access prices. Though 210 sites closed down during 2004 and last year, the number of online retail sites has grown from 719 at the end of 2003 to 826 last year. About 311 sites were launched during the 2004 and 2005 period, the report states.. The fastest-growing major categories were auctions, gifts and apparel. Gifts had been identified as representing a significant opportunity and had become one of the areas of greatest competition in online retail, said Goldstuck. "The market can expect to see fallout in this sector, as well as in auction sites, which seem to have been fired up by the huge success of eBay [online retail group], without having the market and structural benefits enjoyed by eBay," he said.