What Are People Buying Online?

I came across an old (Jan/Feb 2009) issue of Entrepreneur's Masigasig supplement. There was an article there based on a Nielsen study that talked about e-commerce. According to the article, only about 10% of the world population (627 million people) has used the Internet to make a purchase 2 years ago. That number has increased by almost 40% to 875 million people.

What are they buying? Well, if the survey is to be believed (and I do question Nielsen data every now and then also):

• Books (41%)
• Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%)
• Videos/DVD/Games (24%)
• Airline Tickets (24%)
• Electronic Equipments (23%)

The biggest increase has been on clothes. 2 years ago, only 20% of buyers have bought clothes online. It has almost doubled since. According to the same survey, more than half of Internet users are regular online shoppers (meaning they purchase more than once a month). The article did not specifically mention which markets the study was based on.