Internet spending in Asia

SINGAPORE, NOV 3: Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to make more online purchases in the next 12 months, with average...

SINGAPORE, NOV 3: Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to make more online purchases in the next 12 months, with average spending expected to soar 80 per cent to nearly $1,500, a survey showed on Friday.

"Web buyers in the survey spent an average of $800 online in the past 12 months and plan to increase their spending 80 per cent to $1,450 in the coming year," International Data Corp (IDC) said in a statement.

The IDC survey, conducted in August and September, included the demographics, spending and online

purchase plans of over 40,000 internet users in more than 10 regional markets. Asia’s typical internet user tends to be a young man with an annual household income below $15,000 per year, it said.

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The survey also showed that only 40 per cent of respondents had bought any products or services online in the past 12 months. Internet users in Korea, Australia and New Zealand were most likely to spend online, while those in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and China were the least likely.

Books, compact discs, computer hardware and software were the hottest selling items in Asia over the past year and were likely to remain so in 2001, the survey said.