New Surfers are Female, Grey and Love Speedy Shopping

Cast aside any stereotypes of young male computer nerds. Three separate studies this week show that women make up the majority of US Internet users, while 'silver surfers' are increasing their online spending faster than the rest of the population, and broadband expansion is fuelling an online shopping boom.

Women now make up the majority (51.3%) of US Internet users, according to a new study from Research and Markets. It predicts that this proportion will grow to 52.6% by 2008, when there will be roughly 10 million more females than males online in the US. The rise comes as adult women, who dominate spending offline, are shifting more and more of their shopping online.

Shopping is also a big factor in the rise of the 'silver surfer'. According to ENIGMA GfK's latest annual Online Shopping Survey (OSS), one in five Germans aged 50 to 69 shopped online last year. This proportion is less than for the country as a whole (46%), but the so-called 'silver e-shopper' population is growing faster than average, with an increase of 11% last year, compared with an average 8%.

Lastly, it's not just the demographics that are changing the face of the net: faster speeds are transforming how, as well as how quickly, we surf. A new report from US analysts eMarketer identifies seven types of broadband user. 'Online retail buyers' is by far the largest category, followed by online audio/video users and online bankers.

Previous studies have explained the link between online shopping and broadband by pointing to the relative wealth of broadband users. However, Ben Macklin, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the report, believes times have changed: 'Now that broadband has moved beyond the classic 'early adopter' demographic to encompass a broader population, it is clear that the always-on, high-speed Internet connection is a more important driver of online shopping than the demographics.'

The Research and Markets web site is at www.researchandmarkets.com ; ENIGMA GfK is part of the GfK Group's Media division, online at www.gfk.com ; and Emarketer's web site is at www.emarketer.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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