Tuesday, April 3, 2001

Companies Remain Committed to eBusinesses

In a poll by Forrester Research, Inc. of more than 700 senior business executives, 59% said that they are maintaining or heightening their Internet efforts, despite the slowing economy. In parallel, 85% of these executives stated that to achieve their business goals, connecting more tightly with business partners and customers is a top priority -- 38% specifically stated that closer integration would make or break their business. The executives were surveyed April 2, 2001, at the Forrester B2B Technology Leadership Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"These data points show that despite the downturns in the stock market and the economy, businesses still see technology as the key to improving their operations," said John C. McCarthy, group director at Forrester. "This next round of investment will focus on dynamic collaboration -- a strategy of achieving mutual gain by sharing business activities across a network of allies."

"Today's partnering strategies won't cut it because most businesses are too internally focused," said Steven J. Kafka, senior analyst at Forrester. "Dynamic collaboration is an opportunity for firms to seize competitive advantage by optimizing the whole supply network -- not just their link in the chain."

$100,000+ Incomes Big Users of Tax Sites
Jupiter Media Metrix, a global leader in market intelligence, today reports key U.S. audience statistics for the tax season, including demographics for the online tax prep and tax-Web site user.

KEY STATS:
Wealthy Are the Fastest Growing Income Group to the Web

- Nearly half of online users with a household income of more than $100,000 plan to use an accountant to prepare their taxes this year, as opposed to the do-it-yourself online tax prep method.

- But online users with a household income of more than $100,000 are the fastest growing demographic group to tax-related Web sites** since the peak month of last year's tax season (February 2000). Traffic to tax sites hailing from this income bracket grew 45 percent, from 2.2 million unique visitors in February 2000 to 3.2 million in February 2001.

- The top tax-related site in February 2001 according to composition of users with household income of less than $75,000 was Filesafe.net, while the top tax-related site for Web users with an income of more than $75,000 was Accountantsworld.com.

Women Flock to Tax Sites Faster Than Men, and More Concerned About Security

- The growth in the number of women visiting tax-related sites outpaced that of men at 31 percent, from 5.6 million unique visitors to 7.3 million in February 2001.

- While women are more concerned than men about security issues when preparing their taxes online, men are more concerned than women about privacy.

- The top tax-related site in February 2001 according to composition of women was Taxadmin.org, followed by Filesafe.net, while the top sites for men were Accountantsworld.com and Cch.com.

Younger Surfers Flock to Tax Web Sites at Fastest Rate

- The fastest growing demographic group for tax-related sites is males 25-34, which increased 50 percent since February 2000, followed by females 18-24, which grew 46 percent.

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