The number of people in Ireland buying online fell by about 50,000 over the past six months despite a 5 per cent increase in internet use over the past year, research by the consultancy Amárach shows.
After months of continued growth, the number of adults buying over the internet fell for the first time in a year, with just 188,000 internet users making a purchase during the last three months, compared to 238,000 at the beginning of 2002.
In percentage terms this represents 18 per cent of all adult internet users, compared to 24 per cent who said they made an online purchase at the start of the year.
The dramatic slowdown in e-commerce may reflect domestic economic conditions, according to Mr Michael McLoughlin, director of Amárach, but it could also reflect a seasonality that does not exist in the offline market. This could be due to the high proportion of online sales that were travel purchases, said Mr McLoughlin.
Despite the slowdown in e-commerce recently, the future of online shopping remains reasonable, with three in 10 internet users indicating they were likely to shop online in the next three months.
Security concerns continue to be a major barrier, with two-thirds of internet users agreeing that companies are not doing enough to demonstrate the security and safety of online shopping. Not having a credit card is the main barrier to online shopping for young people, according to research.
Almost half of those adults surveyed by Amárach said the ability to shop any time of the day or night was a major advantage associated with buying online. Some 45 per cent of users said they thought they could get a better deal online.
Internet penetration now stands at 38 per cent of the adult population, which is equivalent to about 1,065,000 users between the ages of 15 and 74. This represents an increase of 5 per cent on the same period last year, suggesting the rate of growth in internet usage has slowed down over the past year.
The percentage of adults using the internet increased rapidly from 15 per cent in 1999 to 25 per cent in 2000 and 33 per cent in 2001, the research has found.
The current rate of internet usage in the Republic is similar to that recorded in Britain but lags the US where internet penetration is more than 60 per cent. In Europe, the Nordic countries continue to have the highest levels of internet penetration.
Amárach forecasts internet use here will continue to grow, with an additional 5 per cent of adults going online within 12 months. By mid-2004, almost half the adult population will be internet users, according to Ms Bettina MacCarvill, senior consultant at Amárach.
