E-Commerce More Consumer-Friendly in US than Europe
Accenture's third annual holiday survey, eFulfillment, includes data from France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom for the first time, and the results show U.S. sites making it easier for consumers to make online purchases.
The European counterparts lag behind U.S. sites in ease of ordering and depth of product information. They also tend to have cross-border delivery issues. Only 32 percent of European sites can guarantee the in stock status of items, although that number varies by country with 58 percent of French sites accessing that information and only 8 percent of Spanish sites showing customers if their desired products are in stock. In contrast, 72 percent of U.S. sites are able to guarantee that products ordered are in stock--double last year's figures.
European sites do have an advantage over U.S. sites in that they are generally less complex, which brings the ordering time down to an average of 11 minutes per order.
European Households Flock to Adopt Broadband, DTV
A new Jupiter MMXI study predicts the 2002 Internet market will show marked developments in broadband access and the adoption of DTV across Europe.
The highest proportion of broadband connections will continue to be found in Sweden with 18 percent penetration and Belgium at 12 percent, but Italy and the England will see a doubling of broadband-connected households by the end of 2002.
With 50 percent of households in the U.K. having DTV by the end of 2002, that country will lead Europe with the adoption of the DTV technology. Southern Europe will show much lower penetrations of DTV, but the European continent should average about 25 percent of households utilizing DTV by the end of 2002.
Gambling Hotline Gets a Record Workout This Year
Since it began in 1996, the Wisconsin Council of Problem Gambling's hotline has seen its volume of calls increase annually, with the peak coming in 2000 at 5,052 calls handled.
Through November of this year, the Green Bay-based agency's hotline has handled 4,610 calls. The agency's executive director, Rose Gruber, acknowledged, "I'd be surprised if we didn't break [the record]."
The average gambling-related loss was higher in 2000, with an average of $41,190 lost through gambling. This year's average is hovering at $33,852, but these numbers are still significantly higher than the losses reported from 1996 to 1999. Those years' averages only ranged between $17,950 to $23,281.
$7.4 Billion Gambled by Thais per Year
A report released today by a team of economists from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University to the Nation newspaper finds Thai gamblers spending 325 billion baht (US$7.4 billion) per year on both legal and illegal wagering.
About 35 percent of the money spent on gambling in Thailand is at illegal casinos, where about 4.2 million Thais a year gamble. Underground lotteries have an even higher number of gamblers, with 23.7 million Thais spending US$2.1 billion a year.
Casino gambling is illegal in Thailand and the government-backed lottery is frequently accused of being rigged, which could be a reason for the proliferation of gambling dens where much of the illegal gambling in the country takes place.
An opinion poll of 5,000 people over 15 was included with the survey. Fifty-seven percent of respondents opposed legalization of gambling, 30 percent supported legalization and 13 percent had no opinion.
Possible Link Between Gambling, Alcohol Addictions
Research published recently in the Journal of Studies of Alcohol shows a much more significant link between alcohol and gambling addictions than what's been show in previous studies.
Researchers found that American adults with a current alcohol dependency are 23 times more likely to exhibit gambling problems than non-drinkers. In addition, those drinkers with a higher socioeconomic status exhibited an even greater tendency for gambling problems.
Lead author of the study, Dr. John W. Welte, told Reuters, "If you're in trouble with alcohol, the odds that you're also in trouble with gambling increase enormously."
Asia Embraces Online Shopping in Time for Christmas
Shoppers in the Far East are turning to online retail sites for holiday purchases in bigger numbers this year than ever before, according to Reuters.
This position is supported by data like a 31 percent increase in Australians accessing online retail payment systems in the first two weeks of November as compared to the same period the month before. South Korea's Daum Shopping Web site had November sales figures of US$7.29 million, which exceeded all of 2000's sales revenues.
Japan has seen a large increase in the number of people accessing the Web, which leads e-tailers to predict a record-setting season. Their largest Web-based shopping site, Rakutan Inc., is predicting a 50 percent increase in transaction volume for the October to December period.