Revenue from e-commerce will top $36 billion by the end of the year, more than doubling the $14.9 billion earned in 1998. The shopping spree, however, is going on without teenagers, who are the most computer-literate segment of the general population.
According to The Boston Consulting Group study commissioned by Shop.org, an e-commerce trade group, the revenue will represent approximately 1.2% of total sales.
The study, which looked at 1998 sales behavior patterns, noted that mutlichannel marketers generated 62% of all online revenue, with the remainder being generated by companies that marketers only over the Internet. Multichannel marketers spent $22 per customer while pure online marketers spent $42, which could mean Internet-only marketers had to spend more to get less.
Meanwhile, in focus groups of teenage Internet users, Computer Economics found that most used the Internet for research and e-mail, but were reluctant to buy online.
The teen-agers voiced concern about privacy and security of Internet transactions. Women also complained about the lack of information about sizing and fitting on most e-commerce sites.
According to an analyst at Computer Economics, a Carlsbad, CA-based research firm, “The teens in our study have displayed an increasingly common shopping pattern that does not bode well for retailers who limit themselves to one type of retailing presence.”
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