US business to consumer commerce spending will top $90 billion this year, due to some extent to the surging popularity of broadband, according to a new study from eMarketer.
“Some trends such as experience online, the narrowing digital divide and the shakeout among online retailers have been major factors influencing ecommerce since 2001,” said eMarketer analyst Ross Rubin. “Yet a fourth factor now comes into play: the increasing availability and adoption of broadband,” he contended.
By the end of 2002, more than 17 million US residents were accessing the web via a high-speed cable or DSL internet connection (see US Broadband Sees Record Growth In 2002). This number is set to climb dramatically with new research showing that up to half of dial-up subscribers are interested in upgrading to broadband (see US Broadband Boom On The Way, Says Report).
Broadband subscribers tend to be the most intensive users of the internet and the faster connection speed encourages activities such as online shopping which require the user to visit a number of pages on a single website.
eMarketer forecasts that US B2C commerce spending will rise from $90.13 billion this year to $133.3 billion in 2005, by which time there will be 121 million online shoppers.
US B2C Ecommerce Forecasts | ||||||
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
Online Shoppers (m) | 66.9 | 80.4 | 93.3 | 101.7 | 108.4 | 121.1 |
B2C Ecommerce Revenues ($ bn) | 41.55 | 51.58 | 70.34 | 90.13 | 109.70 | 133.30 |
Source: eMarketer, April 2003 |