Internet Shopping shoots up in the US, suggests Research

In the 80+ metropolitan markets surveyed regularly by The Media Audit, 25.4% of all adults made five or more purchases on the Internet during 2003. In 2000, just 14.4% made five or more purchases. The survey results are based on 27,603 respondents who logged onto the Internet during the past month.

'From 14.4% in 2000 it moved to 19.7% in 2001 and then to 22.5% in 2002 before reaching 25.4 in 2003. That's very strong growth and most of it occurred in a very sluggish economy,' says Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, the research firm which produces The Media Audit.

The company analysed the demographics of the purchasers. Demographically those who made more than five Internet purchases during the previous year are mostly affluent but – not – mostly young. Adults between the ages of 25 to 54 represent 59.6% of the general population surveyed but they represent 74.0% of those who made five or more purchases. The youngest age group surveyed 18-24, makes up 12.9% of the adult population but only 11.2% of the five time shoppers.

Further research shows that the over-55s are a rapidly rising group in terms of using the internet more generally.

The surveys contain more than 400 fields of qualitative information in addition to quantitative measurements of local web audiences.

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