At the end of 2000, over 400 million people had Internet access. That number is is expected to reach over 1 billion by the end of 2005!

The Internet has become the biggest remote shopping medium. A Dieringer Research Group study of 3,000 Americans found that the Internet has become the most popular remote shopping method. Almost 100 million people in the U.S. are now making a purchase after using the Web to conduct their research.

Jupiter Research estimates that Consumers spent nearly a record $13.7 billion during the 2003 holiday season. A study conducted jointly by Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen/Net Ratings pegged sales during the 2004 holiday season at $23.2 billion, up 25 percent from the previous year. This comes at a time when traditional retail sales are growing in the low single digits.

Forrester projects that total e-commerce sales will increase by approximately 20 percent per year, growing to $229 billion in 2008, making online retail transactions 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales by 2008.

Small Businesses Overwhelmingly Satisfied with eCommerce ROI In a survey conducted among more than 500 small business owners, the overwhelming majority indicated that they were either very satisfied or at least somewhat satisfied with their company's e-commerce return on investment (ROI). It's no wonder. When compared to traditional forms of direct marketing such as mail order catalogs, the cost of establishing and maintaining an e-commerce website is minimal. And now applications, such as Excerpo® Storefront, simplify the task of establishing and maintaining a professional e-commerce website.

Visa's e-commerce transaction volume grows 59% year-to-year January-May
Visa reported that e-commerce charges for the year to date grew 59 percent relative to last year, to a whopping $37.6 billion. The rise comes even as alternative forms of online payments are quickly gaining steam as well, including e-checks and payment services like PayPal. Visa includes travel and online bill paying in with e-commerce figures.

Purchasers spent $37.6 billion on Visa credit and debit cards for online purchases January through May 2003, up 59% from $23.7 billion during the same period a year ago, Visa says.