The latest surveys released by
Sydney Internet research firm APT
Strategies and the Australian Bureau of
Statistics reveal a growing use of the Web in Australia.
In the sample of 13,700 Internet users polled by APT for its Australian
Online Brands Survey, some 30 percent of this group had shopped online “two
to four times” over the past 12 months. Also, 39 percent of respondents
connect to the Web at work while 46 percent connect from home.
Results in the APT survey showed another third had so far avoided shopping
online altogether. Further, 16 percent of respondents had only once
purchased goods and services online, while a smaller group of 10 percent
had carried out five to 10 transactions, with only six percent shopping
more than 10 times.
The aim of the survey was to determine which brands had any profile among
Web users in Australia, as APT Strategies found last year that many of the
country’s 100 top Australian brands did not have any recognition on the
Internet. APT claimed that brands such as Hungry Jacks, Red Rooster and
Victoria Bitter were going unnoticed by millions of Australians regularly
browsing the Internet.
Earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the results from its
most recent research that showed 3.5 million Australian households (about
half) had a PC in the home, and about half of those were now connected to
the Internet.
The report was based on data gathered until November last year and compares
to November 1998 data where 47 percent (3.2 million) had a PC while
19percent (1.3 million) had home Internet access. The increase in the
number of households with home Internet access (476,000 households) was
more than double the increase in
the number of households with home computers (229,000) over the 12 months
to November 1999.
An estimated six million adults (44 percent of Australia’s adult population)
browsed the Internet in the 12 months to November 1999 compared with 4.2
million adults (31percent) in the 12 months to November 1998.
The ABS research showed 83 percent of adults who accessed the Internet at
home did so at least once a week, compared with 79 percent who accessed it
at work. Only 25 percent of adults who accessed the Internet did so at
least once a week.
The ABS survey also shows the likelihood that an adult is an Internet user
decreases with age. In the 12 months to November 1999, 73 percent of 18-24
year olds accessed the Internet compared to 16 percent of adults aged 55 or
over. There were more adult males who accessed the Internet than adult
females (48 percent and 39 percent, respectively) and more adults in
capital cities did so than in other areas (48 percent and 36 percent,
respectively).
Nearly six percent of Australian adults (803,000) used the Internet to
purchase or order goods or services for their own private use in the 12
months to November 1999. This is a significant rise from the two percent of
adults (286,000) in the equivalent period to November 1998.
For the estimated 803,000 Australian adult Internet shoppers, books or
magazines and computer software or equipment were the two most common (27
percent and 19 percent respectively) types of goods or services purchased
for private use in the 12 months to November 1999.
