The Web won't work for you if you don't work the web - Summer 2000

Internet Demographics

In a report released on July 6, 2000, Neilsen Netratings reported female Internet users outnumber their male counterparts in the United States. In May of this year 50.75 percent of US Internet users were women, while 49.25 percent were men.

"The demographic split in the Internet audience in the US has evened out over the past 18 months," said Sean Kaldor, vice president of E-Commerce, NetRatings. "The female audience in the US is primarily visiting shopping sites such as; jcpenney.com and spiegel.com; home sites, such as hgtv.com; or general interest sites like oprah.com.

Kaldor also noted that in general, US home users are narrowing their preferred Web sites while non-US home users remain open to a world of offerings. "Americans visited an average of only 10 sites in the past month," he said. "By contrast, even though other nations consistently spent less time online, they visited up to twice as many sites. For example, Internet users in the UK went to 16 sites while New Zealanders hit a whopping 19 sites. In countries where dominant market leaders have yet to evolve, consumers still practice window shopping on a much more pervasive basis than in the US.”

A snapshot of the average American Internet user.

• Number of Sessions per Month: 18

• Number of Unique Sites Visited: 10

• Page Views per Month: 662

• Page Views per Surfing Session: 36

• Time Spent per Month: 9:05:24

• Time Spent During Surfing Session: 0:29:50

• Duration of a Page Viewed: 0:00:50

• Active Internet Universe (actually surfed): 82.7 million

Current Internet Universe Estimate (those who had access, but did not necessarily go online): 134.2 million

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, May 2000
http://www.netratings.com

Canadians Purchasing Online?

While Canadian Internet users are rapidly becoming Internet shoppers, security fears, service frustrations and limited offerings are discouraging Canadians from purchasing online. Some findings included in a report entitled “Winning the Online Consumer in Canada” are reviewed below:

"Canadian consumers are browsing but not yet buying as much online as their U.S. counterparts," said BCG Vice President Peter Stanger. "And those Canadians who do make online transactions spend far less than their American counterparts and are less satisfied with the actual online purchase experience. This is largely due to the fact that the current online purchase experience falls far short of its promise”.

43% of Canadian Internet Users have purchased online, compared with 51% of their American counterparts.

Canadian online purchasers averaged 5 purchases totaling $220 over the past 12 months. American purchasers averaged 11 transactions and spent $705 over the same period.

Both Americans & Canadians cite privacy and security concerns as key barriers to online purchasing. Canadians are also experiencing a higher rate of failed purchase attempts. This displeasure likely reflects that Canadians do a significant amount of shopping at U.S. sites, and must contend with exchange rates, slower deliveries and customs duties.

The scarcity of Canadian online retailers is also inhibiting consumers from purchasing online. Seeking favourable prices, familiar brands and quicker delivery, Canadians are highly motivated to look for Canadian sites. But they often end up at foreign, mostly U.S. sites, either because they offer better selection and shopping experience or because there are few domestic sites to visit.

Source: Boston Communications Group
http://www.bcg.com