UK consumers have spent 239m pounds ($384m) online so far this year, and the total will probably reach 3bn pounds ($4.8bn) by the end of 1999, according to research out this week from NOP Research Group Ltd. The report, based on the responses of 20,284 UK adults, predicts that total annual online consumer spending in the UK could reach 9.5bn pounds ($15.3bn) by 2000. London-based NOP said that growing confidence in the internet is leading more people to part with their credit card details when shopping on the web. The number of online shoppers who said they had purchased with a credit card almost doubled, rising from 42% to 79%. But only 23% of respondents said they had given out credit card details online at some point, double last year’s total, but still a minority. The percentage of internet users who shop online rose from 8% in NOP’s 1998 survey to 21% this year. The primary areas of growth were music, travel and clothing.
