59% of Web shopping from the workplace
A Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) on the use of work computers for online shopping:
Internet users favor the office for Web shopping over all other venues: 59% of the $45 billion in U.S. Web purchases last year occurred in the workplace, compared with 37% from home and 4% from schools, according to Internet measurement firm ComScore Networks Inc. of Reston, Va.
Shopping isn't just happening during lunch hour. In one of the most detailed studies of the practice yet, ComScore tracked hour-by-hour spending by U.S. Internet shoppers during the second quarter. The results: Online shopping begins with the average workday, jumps noticeably about 10 a.m. and builds to a steady crescendo through noon, ComScore says. Online buying drops between noon and 1 p.m., the typical lunch break, then rises again between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. as the workday concludes.
While Web shoppers spend most of their dollars at work, the time they spend on shopping sites is still only a fraction of their workdays. During the second quarter, the average visitor to shopping sites spent a little less than 1.5 hours a month from the office, according to ComScore. Visitors to auction sites invested more time, spending more than 2.5 hours a month from the office.