Lies, Damn Lies, and statistics?

At last you get real facts about the internet and insider ideas to help you make the right moves on ecommerce

Do you feel in a spin with informaton overload on the internet?. Is your mind bulging at the seams with gigabytes of statistics. Let's call a halt to the hype and face some facts.

Here are 10 key facts you need to know about internet usage and e-commerce

1]  Number of internet users is over 300 million
Internet users totalled over 304 million people worldwide, as of the end of May 2000 -- when there were 136 million with access to the internet in the US, 83 million in Europe, and 68 million in Asia Pacific. That figure for the States represents more than half the American population, with 60% of daily surfers connected from home, and 69% from work, according to research from Strategis Group. This was a dramatic year-on rise of 32 million from October 1998 to October 1999.

2]  1 Billion Web Pages
By February 2000 there were over 1 billion web pages, said a report by Inktomi and the NEC Research Institute. Of these documents, 86.55%wer e in English, to be found on 15 million websites worldwide, says Netcraft. Incidentally, Forrester Research stats on PC penetration in the US show that PCs -- still the drivers of internet access until wireless technology becomes a reality -- are as "common as the stereo system"..

That raises the $1 million question: How do you differentiate your site from the other 14,999,999?
The cost-effective answer: 127 Insider Ideas on creating a winning website

3]  American Women use the Web more than men
A new study has found that American women use the Web more often than men. The MediaMetrix and Jupiter Communications report, based on responses from 55,000 people, notes that women and girls constitute 50.4 % of total US Web users.

In the past 12 months, the number of Web users increased by 22.4%, while the proportion of female surfers grew by 34.9 percent. Internet use by teenage girls grew particularly quickly, with Internet access rates for girls between the ages of 12 and 17 jumping 125%

All women surveyed go online more often than they did a year ago, apart from those in the 18 to 24 age group, whose time online has decreased. According to the study, girls make better use of their time on the Web as they get older, when they tend to employ it for functional reasons, such as health queries, child-care, holiday or financial planning.

AOL was the most popular site for women over 18 in the US. This was followed by Microsoft and Yahoo!.

4]  Retail e-commerce trade in the US is still small
Retail e-commerce amounted to just $5.3 billion in the US in the first quarter of 2000, compared to $5-2 billion for the previous quarter, said a report in The Financial Times on 1 June 2000.

This accounted for only 0.7 % of total retail sales, up from 0.63 in the previous quarter. These figures are from the US Commerce Department , and were based on a survey retailers and excluded fast growing sectors such as air tickets, ticket sales, and share dealing.

Forrester Research took those into account and estimated US online consumer spending at $8.2 billion, based on a survey of consumers.

"Analysts were taken aback by the surge as the fourth quarter of 1999 was thought to have been exceptionally strong because of a pre-Christmas e-tailing boost," added the report."

Note that the headline to this news story in the Financial Times read: Retail Trade on Internet jumps 1.2%. However, it is only when you look at the facts that you find the true story...

...e-tail trading is still tiny. And another thing...

5]  Contrasting statistics on the UK's attitude to ecommerce
E-commerce became the driving force behind web development in the UK at the end of April 2000 when it overtook simple communication according to Internet Survey 2000 published by Fletcher Research, the UK Research arm of Forrester Research.

Whereas in 1999, 59% of companies were using the web primarily to communicate with consumers, employees and investors, now almost half of all sites are trying to exploit e-commerce opportunities. At the same time, the cost of ecommerce sites was rising fast, up over 100% on last year. It then required £1 million to establish a competitive e-commerce web site, and £590,000 a year to run it, up almost 160% on last year. However, in many cases, site traffic was not keeping pace with these increases.

However, in August 2000 the National Consumer Council (NCC) reported that anxiety among consumers about shopping online was slowing the growth of ecommerce in Britain. A new report from the NCC has found that 35% of British consumers think the Internet is the most insecure place to conduct a transaction.

The main concerns from customers came from having to release credit card and personal details over the Internet. Other problems cited were the danger of fraudulent companies, and an inability to examinegoods before purchasing. Customers are also unaware of their legal rights in the world of ecommerce.

The NCC found that 26%of British adults have access to the Internet from home or work; only 3 percent of them conduct regular online transactions; and 85% thought the high-street shop was a more secure place to shop than the Internet.

Among people who use the Web, 55%think online shopping poses high risks; 54% of surfers do not like releasing their credit card details over the Internet. Another 30 perce ntof web users believe they are at risk from corrupt suppliers.

NCCDirector, Anna Bradley, noted that, unless the online shopping sites and payment mechanisms were made more secure, some consumers would never have the confidence to explore the opportunities online.

6]  Digital Divide Persists in Europe
While the number of internet users in Europe is growing rapidly, the digital divide is not being bridged, according to the latest results of the Pan European Internet Monitor from Pro Active International.

Almost half of Europeans in the highest income categories had been online in the fortnight before they were polled and 18% had purchased online.

In contrast, only 10% of those in the lowest income groups had been online in the 14 days before the survey was conducted and only 3.3% had ever bought online.

Men were also much more likely to have used the Internet recently. About 36% of all European Internet users are women. The 25-34 year old age group is the most active online while the over 55s are the least active.

7]  Email and Internet use is increasing at work
Use of electronic communications tools a twork has increased in both North America and Europe. Almost 97% of US knowledge workers use the Internet on a daily basis, compared with 61% of German and UK office staff.

The study, by Pitney Bowes Inc., analyzed the adoption and usage rates of messaging tools among knowledge workers in the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK. Internet usage has increased by an average of 18%, while intranet usage has risen by 12 % .

Email messages received and sent by all five countries surveyed has increased by 10%, and this is indicative of the increasing use of desktop and laptop computers as the principal working tools.

In the UK, email and desktop PCs, at 96%, share equal ranking as the best tool for office communications.In Germany, the fax machine is still the most frequently used tool, with 93% of office staff sending faxes on a daily basis.

7]  Big business and the internet
Online marketers often say that the internet will bring down the trading barriers, and the small businesses will be able to compete on a level footing with big business. Indeed small businesses may have an advantage because they are quicker on the feet.

However, there is evidence, in the UK at least, that the big corporations are jumping on the bandwagon and getting hitched to e-commerce, even if small and medium business enterprises may be reluctant.

Almost 100% of UK corporations now have Internet access while 77% have intranets and 32 percent have extranets, according to Durlacher. Research Ltd.

In a survey of 500 UK companies, with revenues over £75 million, about corporate ASP services and b2b ecommerce, some 46% of corporations said they would buy from established software vendors while only 16% would consider new entrants in the ecommerce software sector.

A third of respondents were taking part in trading communities and interest was particularly high in the IT, engineering, health and utilities and business services sectors. About 22% said they were using ASP services and a further 19% intended to do so in the future.

There is significant demand for online procurement services, supply chain management services and communications services.

8]  Poor quality of many B2B sites

Business to Business (B2B) sites have been described as generally poor and hard for customers to use, especially in Europe and the UK. Forrester Research tested 30 sites and condemned them as "badly designed, shoddily constructed and difficult to use. Every one failed in terms of value, user-friendliness and reliability. Also, errors were frequent and missing content was commonplace.

These findings were supported in a report published at the end of May 2000 by the management consultancy Shelley Taylor Associates. Called "Click Here Commerce", the report pointed to poor website design and customer service by British e-commerce providers in a comparison between websites in the US and the UK. Tests showed that Waitrose and JJB Sports were among the poorest UK sites.

9]  Internet fears and frustrations remain
While 57% of US Internet users buy goods or services online, purchase failures, fears of security and service frustrations are still very much an issue, noted a study of 12,000 Americans by The Boston Consulting Group.

An average online purchaser completed 10 transactions last year, spending over $460 on the Internet over the past year, but 28% experienced difficulties. Technical problems, difficulty with finding products, and logistical and delivery problems after the sale were cited as the chief causes of failure. (http://www.bcg.com)

10]  How many online in June 2000
Estimating how many are online throughout the world is an inexact science. Surveys abound, using all sorts of measurement parameters. From observing many of the published surveys over the last two years, here is an "educated guess" as to how many are online worldwide as of June 2000. And the number is 332.73 million.

• World Total 332.73 million
• Africa 2.77 million
• Asia/Pacific 75.5 million
• Europe 91.82 million
• Middle East 1.90 million
• Canada & USA 147.48 million
• Latin America 13.19 million

Source: Various; Methodology Compiled by: Nua Internet Surveys

What do these facts and surveys tell you about e-commerce?

There is no doubt that more and more people are getting on the internet,for business reasons. Businesses are spending increasing amounts of cash ondeveloping their sites.

Customers may be ready and willing to buy, but increasingly they have been disappointed and dissatisfied.

Success in e-commerce can be hard to define and to achieve. While there is no magic formula for making $100,000 or $1 million a year from home, as many of the direct mail profiteers are proclaiming in their sales material.

Look at Amazon, one of the most respected models for e-commerce business. In the UK alone, Amazon commands 50% of the online book business. Yet Amazon has run up losses of £720 million so far, with no clear date when profits will arrive.

Putting up a website will not increase your business automatically. Just being online does not make your company an e-commerce success.

Kai Merriott, from the Internet Market Program, explains: "You first need to ask yourself: is your web site any good? If not, however hard you promote, you will achieve hits but not sales.

"Promoting a site - just like any other business - is slow work. Everything needs to be refined...I know you wanted that magic formula - we all do. Don't believe the hype that the Internet will get you fast results. It can make running a business easier, but it can't make it successful."

What can you do? Here's how to improve your online effectiveness. Click here for your guide to success in promoting your website.