E-Commerce Continues To Grow Very Nicely
Web Design & Technology News, May 1, 2003

May 1, 2003

A new report indicates that the growing availability of broadband is boosting acceptance of E-commerce.
By Eric Chabrow

A boom in online consumer buying can be attributed, in part, to the growing use of broadband links, a new study suggests. At the same time, an overwhelming majority of businesses have at least experimented with online procurement.

"Some trends such as experience online, the narrowing digital divide, and the shakeout among online retailers have been major factors influencing E-commerce since 2001," says senior analyst Ross Rubin of eMarketer, a market-research firm that has released a report titled North America E-Commerce: B2C & B2B, which combines its own analysis with data from that of other researchers. "Yet a fourth factor now comes into play: the increasing availability and adoption of broadband. Add in refinement in marketing and transaction techniques, and it's little wonder that consumers are doing more of their shopping and buying online."

The study projects that U.S. consumers will spend more than $133B online in 2005, up nearly 50% from a projected $90.1B in 2003. Other findings from the report:

• The average annual amount spent online among U.S. Internet users ages 14 and up--excluding travel purchases--should rise to $928 in 2005, up 30% from this year's $717.
• Nearly 60% of U.S. Internet users have at least four years of experience online; 27% have six or more years experience, according to the UCLA Center for Communication Policy.
• Almost 62% of Web surfers ages 14 and up--94.9M people--will purchase goods and services online in 2005, up from nearly 60%, or 81.2M users, this year.
• One-quarter of U.S. adults conducted business with the government online in 2002, according to survey by the University of Maryland and Rockbridge Associates.
• Canadian business-to-consumer sales hit $2.6B U.S., a 59% climb over the previous year.
• More than 80% of U.S. companies have experimented with some form of online procurement, although most are channeling less than 10% of their total procurement online, according to data from Forrester Research and the Institute for Supply Management.