Online Shopping Growth Dominated By Early Adopters
While online shopping continues to grow at a blistering double-digit pace, much of that growth results from the significant amount that the most tenured online shoppers spend online, a survey by Forrester Research shows.
Although they are 36% of the North American population, Early Adopters are 53% of online shoppers and exhibit two particularly important features critical to online businesses: They value convenience in their shopping experiences, and they actively shop in stores as well as online. Forrester surveyed 58,993 US and Canadian households and individuals age 18 and older from February to March 2007.
The fact that 57% of online adults have purchased something through a Web site in the past three months has created the perception that broad swaths of the population now shop online and that buying online is a mainstream activity, Forrester says.
While the online channel continues to welcome first-time online shoppers every year, the vast majority of online shopping is completed by a particularly active segment of Early Adopters.
Forrester’s survey showed the top online product categories for these active Web shoppers are “soft goods,” products that consumers can instantaneously access, purchase, and download from a vast selection without ever leaving the presence of their PC. The most popular online retail categories purchased by Early Adopters are books, event tickets, and music.
The survey identifies three types of consumers:
Early Adopters, who are first to embrace. These high-income technology optimists quickly recognize the benefits of a new technology like a DVR and, unhindered by price constraints, comprise the first wave of buyers. Early Adopters are 36% of North American adults.
Mainstream Consumers, who wait and see. This group, an amalgam of low-income technology optimists and high-income technology pessimists, holds off on adopting a technology or technology enabled service, either because it’s beyond their budget or because they’re unconvinced of its benefits. Mainstream Consumers make up 42% of North American adults.
Sidelined Citizens, who are last to join the party. These low-income technology pessimists need the most convincing before they buy a device or tech service, and price is always a significantimpediment. Sidelined Citizens are 21% of the adult North American population.
The survey Benchmark 2007: Retail can be purchased here.
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