Revenue from Internet will continue to grow, says IDC

The value of sales influenced by the Internet is growing. Companies around the world with established web sites expect the percentage of revenue they receive from sales attributable to an Internet presence will double between 2000 and 2001, from a mean of 4.7% to 9.5%, IDC’s eWorld survey reports. For companies with established web sites, the mean percentage of revenue from sales attributed to the Internet exceeded 8% for four countries in 2000. By the end of 2001, nine countries expect to be in this category. The current leaders are the United States, Korea, Japan, and Mexico. Argentina, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, and South Africa expect to join them in receiving more than 8% of revenue from Internet-influenced sales.

IDC`s eWorld survey interviewed nearly 15,000 sites with IT departments in 27 countries at the beginning of 2001. Companies were asked what percentage of revenue they thought was attributable to their presence on the Internet. IDC researchers did not define the terms of the question.

While IDC says there isn’t a single clue to why businesses in these countries are reporting such relatively high estimates of current and future revenue from using the Internet, it did note that e-marketplaces appear to be a popular concept in many of these nine countries and that companies in those countries have a high percentage of PCs and a high percentage of PCs that access the Web.

“The challenge of maximizing revenue over the Internet remains because there appears to be no magic bullet,” IDC concluded. “But it`s undeniable the Internet is rapidly entering into the mainstream of businesses in several countries.”