The increase in the adoption of the Internet by consumers is, for the first time, being driven by women, as the number of female consumers on-line jumped 80% in nine months, and passed the 10-million mark, according to a study.
According to by CommerceNet and Nielsen Media Research, the number of Internet users age 16 and older in the U.S. and Canada increased 16% in just nine months, yet the number of on-line consumers jumped 40% to 28 million during the same period. The total number of Internet users in North America has reached 92 million.
The new Internet Demographics study reveals that women are now the driving force in the growth of Internet buying, as the proportion of women among on-line buyers increased nine percentage points, from 29% to 38% since last summer.
“Men were undoubtedly the early adopters of Internet commerce, but women have recently emerged as a powerful buying force on the Web,” Jerome Samson, director of technology and business strategy, Nielsen Media Research., said in a statement. “The nine-point increase in the proportion of women purchasing via the Web in such a short period of time is substantial. Now women are active buyers in all the major product categories.”
According to the study, women now represent 45% of the 9.2 million on-line book buyers, 38% of the 7.2 million CD/video buyers, 24% of the 5.4 million buyers of computer hardware, and 53% of the 4.5 million on-line buyers of clothing. In these top categories, the number of women making purchases more than doubled since last summer.
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