The demographics of selling online.

Newegg had experienced management, a clear market segment to focus on (gamers), and a successful model to copy (Amazon). So, I wondered who are some of the people who buy other products online?

The global Internet user population grew 265% from 2000 to 2007 to 1.3 billion consumers, more than 1 billion of them outside of North America, according to Internet market research firm Miniwatts Marketing Group.

• Among U.S. Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, 42 million shop online.

• Among consumers born before 1946, 12 million shop online, according to Focalyst LLC. Among older consumers with above-average incomes, online shopping is growing. 65.6% of those over 50 with income of $50,000 or more said they had made at least one Internet purchase in the past year in a 2007 survey by research firm The Media Audit, up from 50.2% in a 2004 survey.

• 82% of those 65 and older agree or strongly agree that they don’t like to give their credit card or personal information to web sites, compared with 79% in the 50-64 age range, 74% of those 30-49 and 71% of consumers 18-29, according to the Pew survey.

Who’s not online?

110 million U.S. adults do not shop online. They are:

* 55 million U.S. adults who do not use the Internet.

* Nearly 36 million (74%) adults 62 and older don't shop online.

* About 12 million Internet users don't shop online for fear of providing personal or payment information to web sites.

* Consumers with dial-up Internet connections at home are less likely to shop online than those with broadband connections (59% versus 74%). That means 34 million dial-up users as well as 21 million consumers with broadband don't shop online.
* Minorities are less likely to shop online:
* 17 million African-American adults (59%) don't shop online
* 19 million Hispanics (58%) don't shop online.

Among Hispanics, language proficiency is a key indicator of Internet use. Only 32% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics use the Internet, versus 78% who are English-dominant and 76% who are bilingual.

Even with the proliferation of comparison shopping sites, search engines and new online competitors, e-retailers that meet consumers’ expectations can keep them coming back. In March '08, 48% of traffic to e-commerce sites and 67% of sales came from consumers who typed in a retailer’s URL or clicked on a bookmark, says web analytics firm Coremetrics Inc.

Reliable delivery leads to more sales. When consumers are confident they’ll get their product, they keep coming back. And that leads to business growth. Consumer loyalty isn't dead, however online retailers have to do more today to earn it.