Only one-in-three (32 percent) Internet users so far have actually made a
purchase online, according to data from The Internet
Commerce Briefing.
Approximately two-thirds (64 percent) have used the Internet to research
purchases, the data shows. But why aren’t more people completing those
purchases online?
The barriers most frequently cited by individuals include product pricing (77
percent),
potential return hassles (67 percent), concerns about credit card security
(65 percent), and personal privacy issues such as worries about junk e-mail
(58 percent).
Difficulties in navigating merchant sites were cited as a barrier by 35
percent of individuals who have yet to make an online purchase and, somewhat
surprisingly, by 48 percent of those who have purchased something online.
One-in-four buyers also complained about the amount of time it took to
receive their orders.
While a sizable gap exists between the number of online shoppers and buyers,
the average visitor/buyer conversion rate of 2.7 percent among leading online
merchants approximates the conversion rates of their off-line direct response
competitors, the data showed.
Among publicly held online merchants, the companies most effective at
converting shoppers into buyers during the first quarter of 1999 along with
the estimated amount invested to acquire each new customer in the first
quarter include:
- Autobytel.com $20.40
- Amazon.com $27.60
- Beyond.com $29.30
- Priceline.com $32.30
- BarnesandNoble.com $42.00
Intermarket Group’s The Internet
Commerce Briefing is a reference guide to the emerging Internet economy,
aggregating data and forecasts from analysts, market
researchers and technology consultants.
