American online consumers in 2005 will spend an estimated $632 billion in
off-line channels as a direct result of research that they conduct on the
Web, says a new report.
That figure dwarfs the estimated $199 billion that consumers will spend on
the Internet, says the report.
Businesses that doubt the importance of the Internet channel must take a
broad view of what constitutes success online and focus on building an
integrated Web presence in order to capture or influence transactions
generated online, as well as those generated off-line, according to new
forecasts from Jupiter Communications Inc.
The new research was unveiled at this year’s Jupiter Shopping Forum in
Chicago.
Web-impacted spending, which includes both online purchases and
Web-influenced off-line purchases, will exceed $235 billion this year and
reach more than $831 billion in 2005, Jupiter said.
Consumers who are online represent a large and growing portion of U.S.
consumer spending: all told, online users in America will account for 75
percent of all expected U.S. retail spending (both online and off-line) in
2005, up from 43 percent in 1999.
Skeptical retailers eyeing fluctuations in the financial market and the
increasing failure rates of Internet companies are often blind to the most
important issue– the degree to which their online efforts will affect their
off-line business, said Ken Cassar, a senior analyst with Jupiter.
“Online consumers are a very powerful audience and tend to be channel
agnostic,” he said. “And as consumers increase their use of the Internet, the
opportunity for the Web to influence their online and off-line shopping
behavior grows. Simply put, businesses must integrate across channels.”
While many businesses see their online and off-line efforts as separate and
distinct from their traditional channels, online consumers are far more
fluid, choosing to do business with a given company across its multiple
channels.
A recent Jupiter/NFO Consumer Survey found that more than 68
percent of online buyers said they researched products online and then
purchased them at a physical store; 47 percent of respondents said they then
bought via phone.
