From...

December 22, 1998
Web posted at: 11:30 AM EST

by Tom Diederich

(IDG) -- Online shoppers are spending more time online, buying more often and spending more money in the process this year, according to a recent survey by the Wharton School.

The Wharton study, which tracked changes in Internet use among the same group of people it polled last year, found that the number of online transactions tripled, compared with last year, and that the most recent purchases of those surveyed totaled an average $86.31 compared with $49.53 in 1997. The survey was conducted as part of the Wharton Forum on Electronic Commerce, a poll of more than 10,000 people around the world that was launched last year to track online spending habits.

People who make online purchases spend more as their experience with the Internet grows, the study also found.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
	IDG.net home page
Computerworld's home page
Computerworld "Emmerce"
Get Media Grok and The Industry Standard Intelligencer delivered for free
Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
IDG.net's personal news page
Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
Search IDG.net in 12 languages

"Most people don't realize that purchasing on the Internet is not the first thing that new users do," said professor Eric Johnson, head of the Wharton Forum on Electronic Commerce, in the report. "However, after mastering browsing and E-mail, shopping is the next logical step."

The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which released the survey results last week, estimated that by 2000, "even by conservative estimates," purchases made over the Internet could increase from an estimated $4 billion in 1998 to $23 billion by 2000. Other key findings included the following:

• Of those surveyed, 85.8% reported using the Internet for pure entertainment compared with 12.2% in 1997.
• In 1998, 66.8% of the respondents said they downloaded software, compared with just 2.3% last year.