MSU seeks retailer participation
in upcoming e-commerce study

by Brenda Sternquist and Jong Pil Yu

A research team at Michigan State University is launching a new project to study Michigan retailers’ use of the Internet and online retail sales.

Next month the research team will ask you to complete a survey in the Michigan Retailer about how your business uses the Internet. We urge you to return the survey promptly so we can develop an accurate view of Michigan online retailing.

Information from this study will be available to participants in the next few months.

As part of the study, we analyzed data from the August 2001 computer-use survey conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau to find out about Michigan’s online shoppers.

Of the 4,494 Michigan residents surveyed, 2,902 (65 percent) said they use the Internet. Online purchasers numbered 828, or 18 percent of Michigan residents.

The most popular Internet activity was e-mail: 82 percent of online Michigan residents used this service. The next most popular activity was completing school assignments (78 percent), followed by finding information on products or services (68 percent). Purchasing products or services online ranked sixth at 36 percent of Internet users. (See “Did You Know” on page 1.)

Online shoppers were evenly divided between men and women. The percent of online shoppers in each age group increased gradually from the teen and young-adult groups to the 40-44 age group, after which it declined.

Online purchasing varied dramatically based on income. Nearly 50 percent of Michigan residents making $75,000 or more purchased goods and services online, compared to less than 5 percent of those with incomes under $40,000.

The higher the level of education, the more likely Michigan residents were to shop online. More than 50 percent of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher shop online, with the exception of professionals such as doctors, whose use drops to 42 percent.

To see if security concerns limited Michigan residents’ online shopping, we analyzed this question: “Compared to providing personal information over the telephone, how concerned are you about providing personal information over the Internet?” The results showed little difference between the general population and online shoppers in concerns about security.

Look for the online retailing survey in the Michigan Retailer next month. Please complete and return the survey. Also next month we will give more details about online Michigan residents.

Brenda Sternquist, merchandising management professor, and Jong Pil Yu, graduate research assistant, are part of the Michigan State University team conducting a study of Internet retailing.

Return to January Michigan Retailer Page one