Web 2.0 users spent about $27 billion online in the United States in the second quarter of 2007, according to comScore’s "Web 2.0 in Retail Today” report.
comScore reported that social networking site traffic rose 33% to 81 million unique visitors in August 2007 versus August 2006. Blog traffic grew 23% to 28 million unique visitors, while online video site traffic increased 20% to 93 million.
“[The company also found that] 158 million people, or 87% of the US online population, visited Websites that used Web 2.0 technology in August 2007, spending an average of 210 minutes per person at such sites,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni at the Shop.org Retail Summit, as reported by Internet Retailer.
comScore's findings imply that Web 2.0 users spend more money online than the average Internet user. But the company's data on widespread Web 2.0 usage calls that implication into question.
The only way to tell if Web 2.0 users spent more than those who did not visit such sites would be to examine online spending by the non-users. comScore did not release such data.
However, connecting social networking and other Web 2.0 technology to online shopping does make sense.
Data from an “Mplanet” survey indicate that retailers who do not market on social networks might be missing an opportunity.
A majority of respondents who were interested in social networking said they would be receptive to finding out about upcoming sales or discounts on products (51%) and downloading coupons (51%). Nearly three out of 10 (29%) said they would buy products on social networking sites.
The study is especially relevant right now, as online retailers are gearing up for the holiday shopping season.
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