This week’s report from the Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA) has analysed what is really happening online. Some major points:
1. Around 62 per cent of adult internet users bought a good or service online during the six months to April 2011
2. 59 per cent of adults went online several times a day for non-work purposes, up from 53 per cent in November 2009.
3. Convenience (cited by 67 per cent of people buying online) and price (47 per cent) were the main drivers.
4. Australians were buying mainly from local websites, although the share of local online purchases was down to 53 per cent, from 68 per cent in April 2010.
5. The most popular goods bought online included travel goods (60 per cent), clothing (53 per cent), and books and magazines (46 per cent).
6. People aged between 35 and 44 years had the highest rate of buying goods online, with 73 per cent of internet users in that age group making such purchases.
7. Internet users living in rural and remote areas also had a high rate of online shopping, 70 per cent, compared with their metropolitan counterparts on 63 per cent.
8. Most online shopping was still computer based, despite the rise in mobile phone technologies.