Online Shoppers Say They ll Buy from Small and Large E-Businesses Alike

As the holiday shopping season begins in earnest, consumers say they are very willing to buy from small online retailers as they are from large, national e-commerce providers.

In beyond this key finding, a new national survey of 2500 consumers found Extremely high levels of consumer participation in - and satisfaction with - shopping on the Internet, despite continuing concerns about security and privacy.

According to the survey, sponsored by Hostway Corporation, a global leader in Web hosting and managed services, more than three - Rooms of consumers who are shopping at web sites for large and small companies said company size is not a factor in having their needs met their purchases online. Only 15 percent of respondents expressed a strong preference for dealing with large companies online, opening the door for small and medium sized companies to get in ecommerce game.

" These survey results provide very encouraging news: A & 39; Internet Gold Rush & 39; is far more for small businesses ", said John Lee, Hostway of vice president of marketing. " Wal-Marts of the world may be suffering from Main Street retail sales, but consumers are telling us size does not matter to Information Highway.

" Our message to small retailers is this " , Lee continued, " You clearly has a chance to succeed in e-commerce. Consumers are able to find it online. They are willing to buy from you. But he still has a lot of work, and you must have the support of experts in building and promoting a successful e-commerce Web site ".

Overall, nearly nine of ten survey respondents reported buying products online, and of that group, 94 percent said they are satisfied (30 percent) or very satisfied (64 percent) with their overall experience. Participating consumers ranked the following attributes as being the most important factors in shopping online:

-Guarantee of security (97 percent)

-Pledge of privacy (96 percent)

-Prices (95 percent)

-site facility use (94 Percent)

-availability of desired products and services (94 percent)

Market research company TNS the investigation conducted by Hostway between November 10 and 13, questioning 2,500 adults about their national consumer purchases online experiences.

Lauria L.



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