Want your Internet customers to spend more? Rev up your Web site with broadband. According to a Nielsen//NetRatings study, high-speed users spend more time online, view more pages, and visit the Web more often. Titled “Ecommerce: A Need for Speed,” the report, based on a random sampling of more than 33,000 Internet users, clearly demonstrates that “cash — as well as data — is flowing through broadband’s fat pipes.”
| Unique Audience | Pages per Person | Time per person (hr./min./sec.) | Visits per Person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modem 14.4 Kbps | 4,738,519 | 353 | 6:55:08 | 13.12 |
| Modem 28.8/33.6 Kbps | 18,607,010 | 408 | 6:58:12 | 14.59 |
| Modem 56 Kbps | 62,727,090 | 587 | 9:07:13 | 17.79 |
| ISDN | 283,582 | 881 | 12:16:56 | 22.98 |
| LAN | 506,069 | 1,538 | 20:45:53 | 41.40 |
| Cable modem | 5,503,278 | 1,402 | 16:00:47 | 31.36 |
| DSL | 2,268,276 | 1,686 | 18:58:44 | 33.88 |
| Unspecified high speed | 7,367,736 | 1,099 | 13:30:20 | 26.33 |
| Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, April 2001 | ||||
Broadband’s high data capacity allows for a much smoother online experience than a dial-up connection offers, making online shopping easier and faster. In addition, broadband users report annual household incomes of $50,000 or more, and are willing to pay double the monthly cost of Internet access for faster service, which may lead to a greater penchant for shopping on the Web. This year, high-speed users make up a higher percentage of the unique audience for the top 15 online stores than they did last year. Broadband technology particularly benefits online music sellers, who can use the increased bandwidth to stream far better samples than the choppy sounds that emanate from a dial-up connection.
The Nielsen report recommends that e-tailers pay close attention to the proportion of broadband to dial-up customers at their sites, as streaming of rich media works well through broadband but might discourage dial-up customers from buying.
For more information, contact Betty Cho at [email protected].