Posted: 03rd Mar, 2003 By: MarkJ
New research from RoperASW and AOL Time Warner's Internet arm has found that European surfers now rival North Americans as the Internet's biggest shopaholics.
During a three-month stretch last year between August and October European shoppers spent on average 430 euros (£295) per head online. During the same period, U.S. consumers spent on average 543 euros worth of goods per head, the study said on Monday.
Until recently, North American consumers, the most established online community, have been the driving force behind the medium's commercial growth, building U.S.-based Internet companies such as Amazon.com and eBay into the most recognisable dot-com retail brands in their fields.
But, as the research suggests, more populated regions of Europe are catching up. Non-American consumers are expected to kick off the next phase of Internet commerce expansion in the coming years.
45% of European online consumers expect to purchase more products online, according to the study, compared to 41% of Americans polled. Germans are avid participants in online auctions while the French and English use the Internet to book travel reservations.
Europeans are more likely to bank online too, with 47% banking online versus 36% in the USA. Shopping at work continues to be a common past-time with 31% sneaking in some online shopping on company time.
Not surprisingly a fear of credit card fraud was cited as the primary reason for those choosing not to shop online.