Monday, August 6, 2001

Surfing Grows but Retail Slows Online

The eGlobal Report, which aggregates data from more than 100 research organizations and was released today, reveals worldwide internet usage continues to grow but spending on the web has been affected by today's uncertain economic climate.

The eGlobal Report cites a number of indicators -- from the US Census Department B2C revenue figures to the value of items sold on eBay -- illustrating an overall slowdown in the growth of online shopping.

The report from eMarketer includes 178 pages and 185 charts and graphs, finds that Europe, which as little as six months ago was in the internet vanguard, is now strongly feeling the effects of a slowed worldwide economy.

"The B2C slowdown is particularly troubling for European retailers and mobile operators banking on m-commerce applications to boost sales," notes senior analyst Nevin Cohen. "In reality, WAP technology remains impractical and consumers have been cool to the concept of mobile surfing, except for messaging and e-mail. The future growth of e-commerce," continues Cohen, "will be driven by the B2B segment, which will account for 87% of all e-commerce and amount to $2.8 trillion by 2004."

The report also shows that despite the slowing economy, the global appeal of the internet continues to draw more people online, with the number of active users worldwide increasing 28% annually since 2000 -- reaching 640 million in year 2004. The US leads with more than 100 million adult internet users, but Northern Europe continues to be more thoroughly networked, with 65% of the population in countries such as Sweden online.