US set for more online book sales

Sales of books and other consumer goods over the Internet in the US will grow by 200% each year in the next few years, but consumer caution is hampering further growth, according to a new survey.

The study of consumers, retailers and manufacturers by accountants Ernst & Young found that books have enjoyed some of the most impressive online sales growth so far. The number of online shoppers who bought books doubled between 1997 and 1998, and this is a trend that looks likely to continue.

The Internet will grow even more rapidly, according to the retailers surveyed, who predicted that online business would increase the share of their sales from its existing level of 1% to 9% by 2001.

But consumer caution is holding back further growth. Fears about sending credit card information over the Internet, together with frustration with navigating the Web, prevented 62% of consumers from buying online.

The survey also found that more than 33% of Internet users do not buy books online, but do use the Internet to research books in order to buy them elsewhere.

The percentage of Internet users who research prices rather than buy is lower than the percentage who do the same for all goods—57% of consumers in the survey said they used the Internet to research purchases they made elsewhere.

The survey also revealed that almost 50% of retailers surveyed said their Internet sites were already profitable, and a further 43% expected their sites to be profitable within two years.