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DESPITE SECURITY CONCERNS, INTERNET COMMERCE IS BOOMING
Concerns over security and loss of privacy does not appear
to have dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for shopping on the Internet.
According to a recent study by International Data Corp. of Framingham,
Mass., one out of three net surfers engages in shopping while on-line.
The survey's results indicate that shopping activity on the World Wide
Web is higher than many have estimated.
Results of the survey are described in Cybershopping - The Truth Exposed,
were unveiled prior to the opening of the Internet World trade show
held at the San Jose, Calif. Convention Center this month.
“The data from this survey provides us with the most up-to-the-minute
picture of the state of online commerce today,” said John Gantz,
senior vice president of personal systems, services and workgroup computing.
“We hear a lot about how shopping on the Web is already declining,
but these results indicate otherwise. On the whole, Internet commerce
is doing better than can be expected, especially considering that it
is still in the early adopter phase.”
IDC's cybershopping survey yielded more than 750 responses on Internet
shopping habits of both consumers and businesses, including the number
of hours spent shopping, dollars expended and types of purchases made.
The survey, conducted this spring, will be repeated quarterly to gauge
changes in online shopping behaviors.
The survey results yielded the following findings:
• One in three web surfers shop during their browsing sessions;
• Home shoppers spend more than $50 on average per month;
• Business shoppers spend more than $500 per month;
• Cybershoppers visit an average of eight storefronts per session
IDC's proprietary Internet Commerce Market Model uses data on Internet
and Web demographics and behavior. the data includes hours of shopping
activity, number of sites visited, frequency of purchases and dollars
expended, the model provides an understanding of the ways the dynamics
of the marketplace will affect Internet shopping in the near future.
The survey results are but one element of the model, which is based
on more than 40,000 interviews with homes and businesses in 15 countries
each year.
By using its Internet Commerce Market Model, IDC was able to chart over
$300 million in commerce over the Web last year, a third of which represented
transactions completed and paid for over the Web. According to IDC forecasts,
Internet commerce in 2000 is expected to surpass $150 billion.
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