• by January 8, 2001

According to the new eGlobal Report, released on December 27, 2000 by eMarketer, growth of e-commerce through 2005 will be driven by the B2B segment, not retail business-to-consumer transactions. The B2B sector currently accounts for 79.2% of total e-commerce activity, but will grow to 87% of total e-commerce by 2004. By 2004, the report projects worldwide B2B e-commerce will reach $2.776 trillion in revenues.

The Report also reveals a considerable disparity among the various forecasts of total worldwide e-commerce revenues by year 2004. The forecasts range from $963 billion (ActivMedia Research) to $4 trillion (Forrester Research). IDC Research projects $2.8 trillion and Goldman Sachs & Co. estimates $3.48 trillion.

And, despite the magnitude of the market and the accelerated growth, only 5% (229.8 million people) of the world's adult population 14 and over, are currently active (at least one hour per week online) internet users. The report indicates that as access improves throughout the world, the number of active users will rise to 640.2 million by 2004. Even then, only 14% of the world's adults will be actively using the internet.

Though the visibility level of internet advertising is high, and the "noise" is loud, traditional media still serve the majority of the population! Key findings from the eGlobal Report:

The cost of connecting to the internet is beginning to decline as countries privatize and deregulate their telecommunications sectors.

The popularity of wireless connections to the internet has altered the concept of surfing.

The ubiquitous internet is becoming a reality as a wide range of internet access devices have proliferated.

The days of US internet hegemony are numbered as the language and content of the internet is rapidly changing.

Although B2B e-commerce revenues have always exceeded B2C dollars, in 2000 e-commerce became vital for business success

Despite the predicted popularity of digital money delivered through smart cards, old-fashioned credit cards and the even more traditional cash-on-delivery systems still dominate B2C and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions.

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