Comment - Sex and shopping on the Net

In IT sales circles, the potential of the Internet as a sales channel has become one of the liveliest topics of the day. Two surveys published at the end of September shed some helpful light on the subject.

There has been a good deal of idealistic nonsense written about the Internet.

One prominent view, apparently held by the Government, is that the Net is about information. If, on that basis, the number of schoolkids and students using it increases, the prospects for sales don't look good.

Students are generally penniless or in deep debt.

On the other hand, the Internet may not be about information at all.

Web magazine's survey found that seven of the ten most commonly used search words suggested a lively interest in sex. That makes the Internet look more like a huge on-line top-shelf magazine than a huge on-line library.

On the same day, a Mori survey conducted for Motorola presented a picture of the country divided into 'haves' and 'have-nots' where technology is concerned. The 'haves', Motorola concluded to no-one's great surprise, are usually young men, in work and fairly well-off.

The Internet as a sales channel begins to look better already. ABC1 males are a prime target for advertisers. And the editor of Web, Mike Cowley, is reported to have said: "Shopping will be far more popular than sex on the Internet by 2000." The question is, what will they be shopping for? You could take an idealistic view, or you could extrapolate from what the current areas of interest tell you. If it's IT sales you're looking at, anything that helps people download sharp, colourful moving images fast looks a good bet.