The internet is showing signs of becoming an increasingly essential marketing and shopping channel, according to the 2003 American Interactive Consumer Survey (AICS), conducted by The Dieringer Research Group of Milwaukee, USA.
Compared with other traditional shopping and marketing channels, the web is certainly keeping pace. Nearly half of American adults surveyed said they had looked for product information online within the past year - representing a total of more than 103 million adults. And, of these, nearly three-quarters said they used search engines to find products.
However, when it comes to actually making purchases, the internet still lags behind traditional mail order, with only 32% having purchased directly online, compared to 38% who had purchased from mail order catalogues. Despite this, the average number of online transactions per year, per online purchaser, was found to be three times the average number of transactions made by mail order shoppers.