More people are using the Internet, and more are doing so on a daily basis, according to The Consumer Internet Barometer.
But while the overall levels of usage and trust have improved from a year ago, consumers’ overall level of satisfaction continues to fluctuate.
According to the Barometer, online retail sales were weaker in the second quarter than in the first quarter but remained relatively in line with year-ago levels.
Among recent buyers, young consumers (those under 35) and the affluent (those with earnings in excess of $85,000) had the highest purchase rate, each at 58%. Buying intentions are much higher among consumers who have bought online in the past three months (88%) compared with those who have not (24%).
While about 43% of overall users said last year that their major reason for going online was to engage in a variety of personal communication activities, only 38% say that’s true today. But 17% are now going online to do personal research, up from about 15% a year ago. And nearly 20% are using the Net to conduct work-related projects, up from 18% a year ago.
The frequency with which consumers are logging on has also increased over the past year. Now 39% say they log on daily, up from 36% a year ago. More than 71% of users who log on primarily to conduct work-related activities do so daily. Close to 64% of consumers engaged mostly in personal communication go online every day, while only 49% of those using the Internet primarily for personal research log on with the same frequency.
The Barometer is produced by NFO WorldGroup, Forrester Research and The Conference Board.
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