• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 20, 2005

A recent report from Nielsen//NetRatings concludes that nearly a fifth of the online buying population accounts for nearly half of total online spending. These buyers, dubbed "Most Valuable Purchasers" (MVPs), spend more dollars online and make more purchases on the Internet than the rest of the online buying population.

The online retail study segmented online shoppers into four categories based on the amount of their online spending and their frequency of purchases. The MVPs, shoppers who spent the most money online and made the largest number of purchases, comprised 18 percent of the online buyers, driving 46 percent of total online spending. In comparison, those spending the fewest dollars online and making the fewest purchases made up 55 percent of online buyers. This group accounted for 21 percent of online purchases.

Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, said "Not only are the MVPs valuable based upon sales and number of purchases, they are also inordinately loyal to the retailers that they purchase from. Each retailer needs to analyze its own customer base to... develop targeted marketing programs that will maximize revenue from these shoppers."

MVPs are heavy users of comparison shopping tools as compared to other online  buying segments. In addition, they skew towards a higher household  income, are more likely to be connected via a broadband connection, and are  heavier Internet users in both overall time spent online and time spent on retail  Web sites.

For more information, please visit this Nielsen//NetRatings site.