Consumer Internet Users

Search Engines and Consumer Internet Users

2006-10-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

In current times when we need to know something quickly we don't look it up in a book, nor do we ask an elder with more life experience, we google it. Everyone in college has had the google fight. One roomate states something he believes is a fact while the other roomate utterly refutes it claiming he has no idea what he's talking about. The obvious answer to these types of roomate feuds is simply "google it". It's amazing that google is now the authority figure in ending childish I'm right your wrong fights. In addition, it doesn't stop with google. Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, Alta Vista, as well as many others are also providing answers to questions that used to go unanswered. An article entitled Reports : Online activities and Persuits discusses the use of the new found popularity in search engines. So let's ask the question, what kind of information are these websites providing to internet consumers online. The answer is everything. When someone is shopping online and they want a product, we tend to go immediatly to google. Whether its a boat, car, apartment, or a pen or pencil, a variety of many different products can easily be found on the google website by simply typing the object in and pressing the search button! These websites give consumer internet users the point click gratification of being able to interact with their specific product right in front of their eyes. Google as well as others have impacted the way consumers shop online because they provide instant gratification to consumers searching for products. These online search engines have in effect placed an entire shopping mall right in the touch of your fingers!

Growth In Consumer Internet Usage

2006-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Taking a step back and looking at the raw numbers in internet usage, one can see on this web page that there are currently over one billion interenet users currently surfing the web on a daily basis. This number constitutes nearly 16.7 % of the global population. While these numbers are staggering, one must also look at another numerical breakdown which furthers the cause of the global takeover of the internet. Approximately 70.4% of interent users are between the ages of 18-55 stated on the infoplease web page. These numbers are high because elder people 55 and greater in this particular statistical analysis grew up in a time where computers were foreign to them. In addition, most people in that age bracket got through work without having to adjust to computer interfaces. While 18-55 comprise 70% of total internet usage, imagine what will happen to users who grow up with the internet in there homes! Consumer internet usage in the next decade and decades to come will dramatically increase! A great example of this increase in consumer internet usage is found in an article title E-Commerce: Household Shopping on the Internet. This article accuratley describes changes in consumer trends over the last few years in Canada. The article states that from 2002 - 2003 there was over a 25% increase in consumer shopping online, this is over 600,000,000 million dollars worth of consumer dollars spent online! This article goes on to describe various products and websites which have also tended to increase in total usage. Overall, if consumer internet usage continues to improve with the same amount of net internet users, we can all imagine what will happen when our current generation of college and high school students reach that age group of 55+. Purchasing one's products online will be the standard in that modern society!

2006-10-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

Online consumer internet users are expanding not only their purchases online but also their purchases in various media entities. With the emergence of Net Flix, You Tube and I-Tunes, consumer internet users are beginning to purchase online entertainment at an exceptional rate. For instance, on I-tunes website, one can purchase songs for .99 cents and music videos for closer to two dollars. In addition, one can also purchase and rent DVD’s on Net Flix for 5.99 a month and send them back in the mail at any time. Internet media has certainly taken the next step in entertainment and is now allowing consumers to purchase into media they have had limited access to in the past. To show the growing scale of media purchases online, one only has to look at an article in Tech News, which states that in 2005 I-tunes downloaded its five hundred millionth song. Imagine five hundred million songs downloaded in the short few year history of the website, this is astounding! Imagine what that number is today, or what it will be in ten years, the possibilities are endless! The premier online movie rental sight Net Flix recently took a subscriber count and it neared three hundred thousand! Think, that’s almost a couple percent of the entire United States! People are not only downloading songs but now renting movies at record rates never before seen. Internet consumer users are beginning to branch out and now purchase many media type purchases online. This fuel for media at the click of ones mouse will give new media companies online like You Tube a chance to excel on the market place of the World Wide Web!

Online Publications and Subscriber Growth

2006-10-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Information travels extremely fast to consumer users on the internet. It used to be that people found out about news through television programs, or regular newspapers, but now more than ever consumer internet users are purchasing large amounts of subscriptions from online newspapers and changing the way most feel about information currently on the internet. The Wall Street Journal, as well as USA today, New York Post, and others now sell thousands of online subscriptions that are reaching the general public in the United States. While this is booming the regular newspaper industry, it is crippling many local papers. The internet for users has become an online resource that is helping expand subscriptions with magazines, newspapers, and all sorts up publications! An article titled Public More Critical of Press, But Goodwill Persists talks about the changing tide of regular publication. While the article states that there is still “goodwill” with regular publications that internet type publications are growing increasingly stronger especially with the younger crowd. The article states that currently nearly a quarter of all Americans receive their daily news online. Take the website Drudge Report, which boasts roughly fourteen million hits a day and almost three and a half billion hits a year. Just think, they receive roughly half of the worlds population in a year! Websites like the Drudge Report are continuing to grow and take away subscriber numbers from regular publication users further hurting newspaper and magazine industries.

Intro Post

2006-09-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

My name is Alexander Smith and I am currently a business marketing major here at UD. I am computer illiterate and am hoping to do this the right way, if not, better luck next time!
When searching for topics to fulfill this particular courses requirement, I found the topic consumer internet usage which I have a particular interest in. After searching for an article on google, I finally found one that students in our blogging class can really relate to. The article I chose was called “Consumer Internet Barometer” and it breaks down consumer internet usage as well as multiple ways consumers can be scammed using online programs. This article highlights how consumers using online identification and credit cards can have identities stolen as well as other online security worries. The article states that nearly 13 % of all internet users have had identity theft. This is a huge problem in consumer internet usage. If consumers feel less confident about purchases online, the online industry will perish. However, there are many security precautions one can take such as Norton Anti Virus, as well as Spy ware programs which can minimize the risks associated with identity theft online. In fact, the article states that over 70% of consumers have installed additional security on their computers. The article also states that older consumer is usually the ones who are more concerned about identity piracy. Obviously their concern is greater because they have more financial security and have much more to loose by becoming an online consumer. This survey was conducted by the federal government and includes all US domestic household information. Overall, consumers need to feel confident when purchasing and interacting online, or consumer confidence in internet usage will diminish.

Internet Users and Financial Trades

2006-09-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

In the new business world Consumer Internet Users have stopped using the old phone call to place trades, start bank accounts, transfer funds, and even purchase large shares of companies. The computer and internet have changed financial trading permanently for the better. Companies such as scattered, E-trade, and even such large firms as Morgan Stanley, or Charles Schwab have developed sophisticated online banking and financial programs. In addition, even my local Bank of America, gives me online access to pay bills, transfer funds, and watch payments and deposits as they come and go out of my checking account. Although consumer internet users should be big believers in online banking, their are many criticisms to this new frontier. An article titled Consumers losing trust in online banking shows the scares and tribulations of using such a program. The study completed by ecommerce talks about how online banking is on the decline because of fears attributed with people not being able to properly track their money. A lot of people are old fashioned and simply enjoy going to the bank and handing their money to someone they trust, as opposed to making online transaction and transfers where dollars are exchange electronically. However, in the internet heavy continent of Europe online banking is growing tremendously fast and continues to out pace US growth substantially. What will the future hold for online banking and trading, I would say a dramatic increase in all of the above! It's my belief that consumer internet users will be able to have the convenience of tracking funds and trading stocks which will increase online banking and trading dramatically!

Consumer Internet Users and "e-grocers"

2006-09-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

When talking about consumer internet users in today’s world we think about how consumers use the internet in everyday life to improve their daily being. Activities like shopping, gathering news and weather and even betting can be accomplished on a daily basis. However, with consumers increasing the use of the internet, we have accommodated internet users allowing them to purchase anything online. Now a days consumers can even purchase groceries online! Today in class we mentioned multiple urban communities where it is inconvenient and cumbersome to purchase groceries efficiently. However, with a website like priceline as well as many other online grocery websites, consumers can now have their weekly grocery purchases delivered right to their door! Other potential options when shopping online are peapod, netgrocer, wegoshop, and even now safeway has lines that help consumer purchase their foods online. With this influx of online grocery shopping, one has to wonder what will be next? If you can purchase your groceries online their must be limitless potential to establish other forms of business that one will be able to market and sell online. Think how many products we could sell and distribute other than groceries! The internet market to consumers has limitless potential. Although this concept is relatively new, how great of an idea is it really? One website has such a study, titled Online Grocery Shopping, consumer motives, concerns, and business models. This website breaks down how successful such an operation would be. It also explains how to market such products and the communities to market online groceries in. The website explains that given the right environment, so called “e-grocers” would be inclined to purchase all of their products completely online, further suggesting that purchasing groceries online would be a complete success. In my view, allowing consumers to have access to any highly sought product would breed success online and should be offered!