New IA Research Shows Consumers Are Spending More Than Ever Online And Prefer Online Services To Offline Counterparts

“Consumers are spending more than ever online, and they want to use online services across categories from shopping to transportation. “

Christopher Hooton, IA Chief Economist

Washington, DC – Internet Association today released the Q1 2019 IA Industry Indicators Report (3I Report), which provides quarterly indicators for the internet sector. This quarter’s report features a deep-dive on consumer preferences for internet services compared to their offline counterparts. It also featured, for the first time, year over year statistics on these data.

“This quarter’s report shows Americans continue to grow more comfortable with online products and services,” said IA Chief Economist Christopher Hooton. “Consumers are spending more than ever online, and they want to use online services across categories from shopping to transportation. These data underline that consumers view internet-based businesses as good places to spend their hard-earned money – and that view is growing. ”

Key findings from this issue of the 3I Report, which draws on data from Q1 2019, include:

• In Q1 2019, Americans spent the most money per month on the internet since IA began collecting data. The average person spent $94.48 per month at the start of the year.
• Consumer preferences shifted toward internet-enabled options in each of the categories surveyed, with the increases ranging from 0.04 to 0.15 index points over the past year. Consumer preference increased in all six categories IA surveyed: Online shopping vs brick and mortar stores; ridesharing vs taxis: streaming video vs cable/satellite; short-term rentals vs hotels; online banking vs brick and mortar banks; and online meet-ups vs offline interactions.

To read the full report, click here.

###