Married, 41 years old, with 2.81 children and an income of $65,000. Recognize yourself?
That's how the Gartner Group profiled the average American Internet user a few years ago. The tech market research firm says just as many men as women use the Net, so it's impossible to say if the average user is a man or woman.
But he or she is employed and uses a computer at work, according to Gartner. Company research finds that 70 percent of all Internet users have been online for two years or more.
Gartner predicts this online experience will translate into more e-sales this holiday season. Ann Marshman, vice president for Gartner's e-Business Services, says, "Online buyers care more about saving time than money."
"Instead of being concerned with the age of a person making a purchase on the Internet," Marshman says, "retailers should focus on the Internet expertise of the user." She says Netizens with more than three years experience are twice as likely to have made purchases online than newbies with only a year's experience.
