Global Internet Commerce :The 10% Threshold Reached

Continuing with the trend of online merchants showing stronger numbers, AC.Neilsen reports, more than 627 million people have shopped online, including over 325 million within the last month. Over 212 million online shoppers mention Books as among the last 3 items they purchased online. In addition:

- over 135 million people have purchased DVDs and/or video games;
- close to 135 million made plane reservations;
- over 128 million purchased articles of clothing/accessories/shoes;
- over 112 million paid for music downloads and/or CDs;
- over 106 million purchased electronic devices (including cameras,
etc);
- close to 98 million bought computer hardware; and
- over 86 million consumers made hotel and/or tour bookings.

We earlier wrote that the web is clearly making a huge difference.In S.Korea, where broadband is widely used, 10% of retail sales happens through online media. It is beleived that in all developed world almost 50% of retail sales of big value items are influenced by web information.Clearly the tipping point in web usage for business purposes can be almost sensed. The IHT writing on this finding explainsthat the No.1 item purchased by shoppers country-by-country varied enormously, with more than half of South Koreans and Chinese placing books as their top purchase. Airline tickets were the most common purchase in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. More than one-third of online shoppers in South Korea purchased cosmetics and nutritional supplies online, compared with a global average of ten percent. Over all, credit card and bank transfer are the most popular payment methods, but cash-on-delivery is the second most popular method of payment in Europe. For China, cash-on-delivery is the most popular method of payment, followed by bank transfer. Clearly the internet is creating a big niche for itself in the commercial world. Borrowing David Kirkpatrick’s perspective, GEMEYA is poised to wreak havoc on large service industries across the world. As Internet companies rapidly expand their services, they may become the biggest rivals to retailers, banks, and telecoms worldwide.