This is of course good news for all ecommerce merchants, including those in the adult entertainment space, since consumer comfort with online transactions paves the way for all Internet-based sales.
For example, the Canadian market is set for expansion, according to a new report by The NPD Group, which points to the emergence of the "super online shopper" — a group comprising a relatively small percentage of the online audience, which is responsible for the bulk of purchases. These consumers fall within the 25-34 age group, representing an older range of users than the 18-24 year olds that make up the majority of Internet users.
These "super shopping" habits can carry over to the big-dollar buying sprees of cam network "whales" and other high-revenue buyers of adult entertainment.
Dubai and other Middle Eastern countries are also seeing a surge in Internet shopping as well, with an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the region's Internet users shopping online. Many more Middle Eastern shoppers are expected to join in, especially now that Arabic domains are emerging into the marketplace — alongside other non-Roman character sets, which open the door to a much wider global audience.
China, for example, is enjoying a small cultural renaissance, as ancient folk brands are now coming online, bringing thousand-year-old beauty secrets made from duck parts into direct competition with the latest offerings from the Maybelline laboratories.
Closer to home, Amazon has announced that it has made more than $1 billion dollars in mobile content and mobile-originated sales during the past 12 months. This figure includes sales of content for its Kindle e-reader.
"The leading mobile commerce device today is the Smartphone, but we're excited by the potential of the new category of wireless tablet computers," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stated. "Over time, tablet computers could become a meaningful additional driver for our business."
What is clear from these reports and others is that while online sales are increasing, they are also changing in their very nature and it is this fundamental re-thinking of the seller-buyer relationship that must be examined more closely.
One example of this evolving relationship is eBay, which now offers an iPhone app that allows users to go into a retail store to compare items and then scan the barcode of the desired item to receive discounted online offers for the same product. This is one of the drivers of the company's prediction of $1.5 billion in mobile generated sales in 2010.
While some will point to the inherent unfairness of letting the brick-and-mortar store provide the real world shopping experience, with all the financial overhead that entails, only to lose the sale to an online outlet, changing tactics are the way of the future and all companies need to adapt to these challenging business models — including those in the adult space. Fortunately, consumers are willing to come along.