Web Shopping

A Growing Clique of Online Shoppers

An increasing number of the world’s online population is using the internet to make purchases, according to a new study by Nielsen Global Online Study. Over 85 percent of the world’s Web population has made a purchase, a spike of 40 percent over the last two years, according to the study. The most popular internet-purchased items remain books, at 42 percent, but fashion shopping, in second place with 36 percent, represents the fastest-growing Web buys.

The United States, Germany and Britain has especially high percentages of online fashion shoppers, with 41 percent of U.S. internet users buying clothing or accessories within the last month, according to the study.

“Within Europe, there is a much higher take-up in the U.K. and Germany for buying fashion online, Angela Rumsey of the research service WGSN told the International Herald Tribune. “People in those countries are used to having clothing delivered to their housed. They have a strong history of mail order catalogues.”

South Korea has the biggest percentage of online shoppers: 99 percent of the online community has purchased something online. Trailing South Korea was England and Germany, and Japan, all at 97 percent. The United States finished in eighth place with 94 percent. After books and clothing, the most popular purchased items online were videos and DVDs (24 percent), airline tickets (24 percent) and electronic equipment (23 percent).

“Almost no aspect of life remains untouched by online media,” Jonathan Carson of Nielsen Online told PR Newswire. “As our lives become more fractured and cluttered, it isn’t surprising that consumers turn to the unrivalled convenience of the internet when it comes to researching and buying products.”