More than 5,000,000 Internet users made a secure connection on an etailing site in November, an increase of over 3,250,000 users since November 1999. The most dramatic increase was with female users, with 1,780,000 women making a secure connection, almost four times higher than at the same time last year. According to NetValue secure connections are the most accurate indicator of e-commerce transactions, as they provides a reliable metric of users going onto a secure area of a website (and therefore converting a visit into an actual purchase, or online banking). Pre-Christmas figures for Internet use in the UK reveal that:

• The number of Internet users in November was 10,781,000, up by over 600,000 since October.
• More than 5,000,000 Internet users made a secure connection on an e-commerce website, up from 1,800,000 at the same time last year.
• Amazon.co.uk had its best month to date this year, with 15.1% of all home Internet users, or 1,627,931 unique users, visiting the etailing website.
• Woolworths.co.uk entered the NetValue rankings for the first time, with over 300,000 unique visitors.
• Etoys.co.uk was the most visited games and toys website, with over 370,000 unique visitors.
• More than 800,000 Internet users visited an e-greetings card website.