ACNielsen: Consumer confidence in Net remains high

2001-09-25:

US consumer confidence in ecommerce is rising, according to the latest

release of the Yahoo/AC Nielsen Internet Confidence Index.

The Index, which measures ecommerce activities, has increased by five

points among all consumers and seven points among Internet users,

since June 2001.

The Index projects that consumers will spend USD16 billion online in

Q4 this year, up from the projected spend in the last release of the

Index of USD9.9 billion for Q3.

Furthermore, 43 percent of “light” Internet users said they will shop

online this quarter, up from 29 percent in June.

All Internet users said helpful product information, comparison

shopping, and a wide choice of products were motivating factors for

online shopping. Most of those polled, however, did not believe online

retailers would be cheaper than their offline counterparts.

The biggest barriers to online shopping were fears of credit card

fraud and theft of personal information.