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really buys online
Spenders are not young-uns but 35-54 year olds
By Marty Beard
When we think of the growth of e-commerce, we are inclined to credit much of that growth to younger internet users, those stereotypically hip, tech-savvy, so-called early adopters who lead the way in all things internet- related.
It turns out not to be the case.
In reality, almost half of all e-commerce spending on the internet is accounted for by people in the 35- to 54-year-old age bracket.
That's according to a new report on e-commerce from the Intermarket Group.
The report, which analyzed a number of other e-commerce studies from sources such as the Gartner Group, Mediamark Research and Ernst & Young, concludes that internet users in the 35 to 54 age bracket account for 46 percent of online shoppers.
The same demographic also accounts for 53 percent of all online sales revenue.
In contrast, people ages 18 to 24 make up just 13 percent of online shoppers and generate 3 percent of internet sales revenue.
These findings, while perhaps surprising at first glance, begin to make sense when compared to overall internet use by age group.
Users in the 35 to 54 age group account for a full 44 percent of all internet users, by far the largest group.
Users in the 18 to 24 age bracket, by contrast, make up just 15 percent of all internet users.
The study also found that just 49 percent of the 140 million people in the U.S. who are online have actually purchased goods on the internet.
Internet users in the 55-plus bracket make up nearly 19 percent of internet users, 16.3 percent of online shoppers, and generate 12 percent of online sales revenue.
Finally, people in the 25- to 34-year-old age bracket make up the second-largest percentage of internet users, 22 percent. They account for 25 percent of online shoppers and generate about a third of online sales revenue.
But some stereotypes do hold true about online shoppers: They’re reasonably well educated, and financially speaking, they’re quite comfortable.
Thirty-six percent of online shoppers attended college, a percentage not far off from the 34 percent of internet users who have attended college.
In comparison, 35 percent of people who have finished college and have a little graduate education or a graduate degree have shopped online, and 37 percent of all internet users are that well-educated.
Twenty-nine percent of internet users have a high school diploma or some high school, as do 23 percent of online shoppers.
Intermarket also confirmed that 31 percent of online shoppers earn $31,000 to $49,000 a year, 19 percent earn $50,000 to $69,000 a year, 12 percent earn $70,000 to $99,000 a year, and 7 percent earn at least six figures a year. Twenty-seven percent earn less than $30,000 a year.
Additionally, 59 percent of online shoppers are married, as are 61 percent of all internet users.
Yet when it comes to shopping online, the digital divide remains in effect. Thirty-one percent of African-American internet users have actually bought something online, as have 32 percent of Hispanic internet users. In comparison, 69 percent of all internet users have made an online purchase.
February 1, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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