85% of world’s population shopping online

Stuart Turton Read more October 7, 2009

A survey has revealed that the number of people shopping online across the globe has skyrocketed from 10% to 85% in two years.

85% of world's population shopping online

According to the figures from Nielsen Online, the boom has been driven by emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Vietnam and India, which are increasingly turning to the internet to purchase books, which accounted for 41% of all sales in the last three months, and clothing, which accounted for 36%.

Other common online purchases included airline tickets, accounting for 24% of all sales in the last three months, and music, which represented 19% of global sales.

The survey reveals that the highest percentage shopping online is found in South Korea, where 99% of those with internet access use it to shop, followed by the UK, Germany and Japan which have a penetration rate of around 97%.

“The internet is no longer a niche technology, it is mass media and an utterly integral part of modern life,” says Jonathan Carson, president of Nielsen Online. “Almost no aspect of life remains untouched by online media. As our lives become more fractured and cluttered, it isn’t surprising that consumers turn to the unrivaled convenience of the internet when it comes to researching and buying products.”