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Online consumers spend less time at the mall

by Tom Diederich

(IDG) -- Four out of 10 Americans with Internet access are spending less time in brick-and-mortar stores than they used to, according to a new survey.

Marketing researcher Greenfield Online Inc., which published the findings yesterday after polling 1,286 Internet users, said the 39% of wired Americans who let their mice do the shopping reported they go to local stores and malls less often. Those shoppers reported they like the convenience of the Internet and the wide selection of merchandise available at online stores.

Mainstream retailers should take notice, Greenfield concluded, because Americans who use the Internet account for 60% of all U.S. consumer purchasing power.

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A spokeswoman for the Westport, Conn.-based firm said survey participants were tapped from a database of more than 1 million people nationwide that reflects the demographics of current U.S. Internet users. The poll, conducted from a secure Web site, started Dec. 23 and ended Jan. 6.

Among the study's key findings were the following:

• The Internet, at 49%, has overtaken malls (42%) and catalogs (22%) as a purchasing channel for software among online consumers.

• The Internet still lags well behind catalogs and stores when it comes to "window-shopping" for clothes.

• Nearly half (49%) of all book purchases among Net users are made online. In addition, Internet-based booksellers are poised to surpass mall bookstores soon in terms of sales, according to Greenfield.