Online Shoppers on the Rise, Interested in Shifting to ADSL: User Survey
February 5, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Some 65.4 percent of 16,000 Internet users polled said they have made e-commerce transactions, according to a Nikkei NetBusiness Net user survey.
The figure presented a considerable increase compared with the result recorded in the previous survey in June 2000 (See Figure).
While about 60 percent of middle-aged and senior users said they have experienced online shopping, the percentage of female online shoppers rose above male users. The survey results indicate that B-to-C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce transactions in Japan are transitioning from a temporary stagnant period to the second stage of penetration.
The questionnaire survey was conducted on a Nikkei NetBusiness from Nov. 21 to Dec. 4, 2000. It had 51 questions in which respondents were expected to choose one of the options given. The survey, the eleventh of its kind, has been carried out semiannually since December 1995. It received a total of 15,833 responses, of which 15,666 were valid.
ISDN Loses its Popularity
Responding to a question about the type of Internet connection services they would like to use in the future, the largest percentage of respondents said they are interested in using asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service, which accounted for 34.1 percent of the total number of respondents, triple over the past six months.
Internet connection services based on cable television network remained popular at 31.7 percent.
The percentage of users hoping to use a flat-rate Internet connection service based on integrated services digital network (ISDN) technology dropped to 11.4 percent from 19.2 percent recorded in the previous survey. The result reveals that users who are particular about the quality cannot be satisfied with ISDN service any more.
A sudden jump in the number of cellular phone users has promoted use of mobile terminals for Internet connections from 51.9 percent to 59.2 percent. Among users who access the Internet using a cellular phone handset, male users made up for 36.9 percent and female users accounted for 36.5 percent, showing that mobile terminals have gained a large number of users, regardless of gender. The survey finds 27.6 percent of male users aged 51 to 55 and 25.2 percent of male users aged 56 to 60 said they access the Internet using such mobile terminals. This result shows that the Internet connection using a mobile phone terminal is being adopted by a variety of age groups.
Female, Senior Net Users on the Rise
The percentage of female respondents was 17.4 percent, up 5.7 percentage points from the previous survey. The percentage of female Internet users has been rising through the passage of time. For example, the percentage of female users who started using the Internet from April 1997 to March 1998 stood only at 16.2 percent. The number increased to 23.5 percent for female users who began using it from April 1998 to March 1999, marked 30.3 percent for those who started using it from April 1999 to March 2000, and hit 38.0 percent for those who started using it in April 2000 and thereafter.
A growing number of older users as well as users aged 20 or younger started hooking up to the Internet. The percentage of respondents aged 51 or older who started using the Internet from April 1995 to March 1996 was 7.7 percent, but the figure rose to 10.3 percent for those who started using it from April 1999 to March 2000, and reached 11.5 percent for those in April 2000 and thereafter.
For younger Internet users, 4.4 percent said they began using the Net from April 1999 and March 2000, and the percentage gained to 6.3 percent for those in April 2000 and thereafter.
Most Beginners Access Net from Home
As to where they enjoy net surfing, four years ago, about 47 percent of all respondents of the semiannual survey said they do it at home, and the same percentage of people said they do it in the office. Since then, the percentage of those who access the Internet from home increased steadily, and the latest survey discovered that 56.9 percent of respondents said they access the Internet from home, while 40.8 percent said they do so at companies.
The gap between the percentage of users who said they access the Internet from home and in the office has been narrowing from April 1995 to March 1996, when the number of Internet users jumped explosively. The gap finally reversed for users who said they began using the Internet from April 1996 to March 1997. Since then the gap has become larger, and among users who started to access the Internet in April 2000 and thereafter, 87.5 percent of users said they access the Internet from home. The survey results prove that relatively new users tend to purchase their own PCs.
Free ISP Services Gain Supports
Among Internet service providers, 6.6 percent of Internet users who access the Internet from home said they use a free Internet connection service. A total of 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, of the respondents said they are users of livedoor and ZERO, major providers of free Internet connection services. Users of @nifty, Biglobe and So-net accounted for 11.7 percent, 6.1 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, higher than the percentage of those who use free ISP services. However, the percentage of free ISP service users made up for nearly one-third of Biglobe and So-net users, and equals the percentage of hi-ho users, which accounted for 2.0 percent.
Internet service providers affiliated with electric appliance makers such as @nifty, Biglobe and So-net are losing market share to those affiliated with telephone companies including DION, OCN Dial Access and ODN.
Online Shopping Seeps to Senior, Female Internet Users
The latest poll also confirms that online shopping is being widely experienced by senior and female Internet users.
A total of 61.4 percent of respondents aged 61 or older said they have been engaged in e-commerce transactions, up 20.7 percentage points from the last survey, and the largest gain among different age brackets. The second-largest increase was marked by users aged 56 to 60. They accounted for 61.8 percent of all respondents, up 14.2 percentage points from the preceding survey.
Female users made up for 68.5 percent, up 12.5 percentage points in six months, and recorded a higher percentage than the 64.7 percent for males.
Credit Card Settlement Tops Survey
On a question about their desired settlement, credit card-based settlement ranked tops, with 29.8 percent. Transfer from banks or post offices was second with 25.5 percent, and cash on delivery was third with 21.9 percent. Including credit settlement services using the SET settlement protocol and settlement by informing a credit card number by fax or telephone, credit card settlement was used by 38.3 percent of all respondents.
However, users are reluctant to use their credit card for shopping totaling 100,000 yen or more. (115.55 yen = US$1) In that case, they opted for money transfer via banks or post offices because they fear unauthorized use of their credit card.
A growing number of users opted for payment at convenience stores. In the survey conducted in December 1999, 3.2 percent of respondents said they use convenience stores for settlement. The figure rose to 5.3 percent in the survey conducted in June 2000 and to 7.1 percent in the survey conducted in December 2000, presenting the largest growth among the different ways of settlement. In the future, more users are expected to go to convenience stores to settle payments as more e-shopping malls introduce such services.
Net Bidding Gains Recognition
As to bidding over the Internet, which suddenly won an increasing number of users in the survey a half year earlier, the latest survey shows the service is still winning more users mainly in their 30s or younger. A total of 31.5 percent of male users and 35.6 percent of female users said they have experienced Internet auctions, up 4.8 and 6.6 percentage points, respectively, from the previous survey. More female users showed an interest in the service than male users, and this trend is the same as in the previous survey.
The survey results find out older users are unwilling to try bidding via the Internet. Among respondents aged 46 to 50, the number of male and female users who have used an Internet-based bidding service increased only by 0.2 and 1.9 percentage points, previously, from the last survey.
E-Mail Advertising Favored
Banner advertising, still the main form of online advertising, was losing its appeal to Internet users. Instead, e-mail ads are gaining popularity, particularly among experienced online shoppers, the survey finds. While around 10 percent of users said they had clicked onto banner ads more often than before, around 50 percent said their frequency of clicking on such ads is unchanged, and nearly 30 percent said they made fewer clicks than before.
By contrast, among respondents who have tried online shopping once, 71.4 percent of them said they subscribe to e-mail distribution services carrying product information, and that they would like to continue to do so even in the future. Among those who have shopped online 10 times or more, 83.5 percent responded the same way.
The reason for visiting a certain Web site varied by gender and age, according to the survey. Of total respondents, 68.5 percent said they visited a certain home page after seeing a magazine ad. The number was followed by 58.4 percent of people who cited newspaper ads, 44.2 percent of those who cited television ads and 19.8 percent of those who cited posters and billboards on the street as a reason for visiting a home page. Among respondents aged 30 or younger, TV ads were cited by the largest percentage of people, particularly by 61.3 percent of female users aged 20 or younger. Respondents aged 40 or older cited newspaper ads, especially 72.4 percent of male users aged 50 or older.
Survey Method
Nikkei NetBusiness asked a host of questions on its Web site for users to fill out for the survey. The poll started on Nov. 21, ran for two weeks, and ended on Dec. 4, 2000. Notices were distributed by other means such as e-mail, and also posted on Nikkei Business Publications Inc.'s BizTech homepage and other Web sites.
The number of responses totaled 15,833, and there were 15,666 valid replies. |
