Seven in 10 Irish users are aged under 35. While this means that currently, youthorientated offerings stand a greater chance of success, the consumer markets of many companies are not at all well represented. Those contemplating B2C offerings need to know where their consumers are at and where they are likely to be when planning new services. Aside from the growth that will eventually come in e-commerce from the increasing value of purchases, more users actually intend to make an online purchase sometime soon. If they all follow through by the end of 2000, the ecommerce market will have grown significantly - not just because more people are buying, and not just because they are spending more per head, but because there will also be more Internet users about.
Significant growth is evident.
When asked about the proportion of all their purchases, there is little increase over and above the proportion stated by those currently buying. As such, B2B volume growth will come from more companies engaging in such purchasing, rather than from companies putting more and more of their purchases through this channel. Likewise, use of the Internet as a sales channel is also set to increase dramatically. A quarter of all companies see themselves using it within the next 12 months, three times as many as the 9 per cent claiming to use it now. If all those who intend to engage in e-commerce within the next 12 months do so, the market will rapidly expand.