Take a look at how the digital world is changing how consumers find the products and services they want. How statistically we are growing as an Internet savvy society.

1. Technology and the impact it
has on consumers

2. The Internet
Introduction
• The Internet first became accessible to
the public back on 30th April 1993, and
since then it has ‘fundamentally altered
the past quarter-century.’ (Grossman
2018)
• Built in in the 1960s the internet was
made with the intent of relaying
information between people, mainly for
military use. (Tarnoff 2016)
Fig 1. Petrosyan, A (2023) Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of January 2023 [Graph]

3. Access to the Internet
• With the internet growing in popularity,
statistically its shown that as of January
2023, there were 5.16 billion internet
users worldwide, which is 64.4 percent
of the global population.
• In 2022, the number of people with a
mobile phone was at 5 billion. With a
just under a billion new users since
2020 it is expected that the number of
users is to increase to 6.12 by 2028.
This combined with the fast and steady
growth of the internet has made it far
more easier for consumers to get
access to any platform they desire.
(Ceci 2023)
Fig 2. Ceci, L (2023) Number of mobile internet users worldwide from 2019 to 2028 [Graph]

4. Due to the growth of modern technology consumers
have more options than ever when coming to using
services and making purchases. Recent statistics
show that the majority of American consumers are
mobile phone users with 96% of the population
having one as of 2019. (Thomas, R 2019)
Digital devices used by people
Fig 3. Thomas, R (2019) The Mobile Consumer Is The Consumer [Photo]
Fig 4. Monkeybusiness (2016) Man Using Digital Tablet [Photo]
Consumers use the digital tablet far less than they
use smart phones, however it has been found that
whilst a mobile phone is easier to use on the go
many people use tablets when at home. Only 12% of
tablet users say that they use it outside. Tablets can
be more helpful for a number of reasons such as
visibility, with bigger screens it's easier to see what
is being offered online such as items to purchase.
(Ghiciuc, I 2020)
It is shown that through the years people are
still using desktop devices even with tablets
and mobile’s available. Globally 29% of
internet visits were made by desktop
computers in 2020. Desktop devices are
more often used when people need to
conduct more in depth research on items or
services. (Enge, E 2021)
Fig 5. Zephyr_p (n.d) Male hand holding computer mouse while using desktop computer [Photo]

5. When looking for a new product or service customers have more options than ever when searching for information. One of the most common
and popular ways is using search engines such as Bing or Google. In 2022 it was found that google processes 8.5 billion searches a day. Thats
99k searches a second. Google offers their customers more options than a search bar too in order to receive the correct information they want.
For example in 2017 they launched the Google Lens, this allows people to snap an image of an item that they want information on. Even better
the lens has a Translate feature so that consumers of all nationalities can receive the information they are looking for. (Mohsin, M 2023)
How customers search for information
With the current boom of social media users, many customers can use the media platforms to gather more product or service information. 90%
of instagram users follow a business page, from here consumers can find links to websites or images of products they want to use or purchase.
A poll was taken to find what social media customers used the most when searching for a product, the study found that 78% of consumers
discovered new products on Facebook alone, which is not surprising considering the platform has a staggering 2.7 billion daily users. (Bump, P
2022)
Fig 6. Chinnapong (2020)Social media app for digital marketing e-
commerce on smartphone mobile online application [Photo]
Fig 7. Bump, P (2022) How (& Where) Consumers Discover Products on Social Media. [Photo]

6. What consumers
buy online
With an estimated 2.14 billion people hoping online for
goods globally, it is only expected that we see a significant
growth in E-Commerce and M-Commerce. (Statista, 2017)
The top most purchased product online is Apparel with a
market value of $1.53 Trillion in 2022 and only expected
to rise to $2 trillion by 2025. (Ashique 2023)
The second most purchased item is electronics, with ‘the
average number of connected devices per consumer is
3.64’ and electronics being more affordable than ever it's
no wonder it's such a popular purchase. (Chaffey, D 2016)
Fig 8. Filadendron (2017) Online shopping stock photo [Photo]

7. Online video consumption
It has been found that online videos reached a
worldwide audience of 92% in 2021. The majority
of views coming from music videos and viral videos
but still a fair percentage of 27.5% of view coming
from product reviews. (Shephard, J 2023)
41% of Generation Z customer said they would
rather discover products and services through
short videos such as TikToks or instagram reels.
And a further 36% of millennial agreeing with this.
(Bump, P 2022)
Statista back in 2020 did a study that found 82%
of young adults between the ages of 15-25 used
YouTube more than any other platform for content
consumption. (Shephard, J 2023, UK)
Fig 9. Statista (2021) Online Videos Have an Audience Reach of 92% Worldwide [Graph]

8. Consumer Trends
With the fast movement of modern technologies it is no wonder that consumer trends are changing fast. The number of money spent
through online shopping has almost tripled in size between 2008 and 2018 from 4.9% to 17.9%.
There are many things to consider when looking at the changes to trends for example with the introduction of product and company
reviews online. In 2015, 67% of customers stated that positive reviews are an important part in them deciding to purchase a product or
use a service. (Innovativezone, 2022)
Fig 10. anyaberkut (2023) Customer experience concept, rating and comments online. [Photo]

9. Summary
The world of technology is growing rapidly,
and we should expect a future for consumers
that is very online based and connected
through the internet.
Statistics are continuously leaning towards the
estimation that online sales and consumerism
is increasing and expanding. With information
easier to find we can expect online businesses
to grow and media platforms to flourish.
Technology will help consumers to access and
connect with almost anything they need and
having a digital device will slowly become a
future necessity.
Fig 11. Katkova, E (2022) Young woman working from home with a boston terrier dog. [Photo]

10. References
Grossman, D. (2018) ‘On This Day 25 Years Ago, the Web Became Public Domain’ Popular Mechanics [Online].
Available at: https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/web/a20104417/www-public-domain/
[Accessed 17th April 2023]
Tarnoff, B. (2016) ‘How the internet was invented’ The Guardian [Online].
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/15/how-the-internet-was-invented-1976-arpa-kahn-cerf
[Accessed 17th April 2023]
Petrosyan, A (2023) ‘Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of January 2023’ Statista [Online].
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
[Accessed 17th April 2023]
Ceci, L (2023) ‘Mobile internet usage worldwide - Statistics & Facts’ Statista [Online].
Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/779/mobile-internet/#topicOverview
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Thomas, R (2019) ‘The Mobile Consumer Is The Consumer’ Inmobi [Online].
Available at: https://www.inmobi.com/blog/the-mobile-consumer-is-the-consumer
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Ghiciuc, I (2020) ‘Smartphone statistics and tablet usage patterns. The hows, the whys and the wheres’ Thinslices [Online].
Available at: https://www.thinslices.com/insights/smartphone-statistics-tablet-usage-patterns#smartphone-statistics-infographic
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Enge, E (2021) ‘Mobile vs. Desktop Usage in 2020’ Perficient [Online].
Available at: https://www.perficient.com/insights/research-hub/mobile-vs-desktop-usage
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Mohsin, M (2023) ‘10 GOOGLE SEARCH STATISTICS YOU NEED TO KNOW IN 2023 [INFOGRAPHIC]’ Oberlo [Online].
Available at: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/google-search-statistics
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Bump, P (2020) ‘How (& Where) Consumers Discover Products on Social Media [New Data]’ Hubspot [Online].
Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-product-research
[Accessed 19th April 2023]

11. References continued
Ashique (2023) ‘What Do People Buy the Most Online in 2023? (Product Ideas)’ DoDropshipping [Online].
Available on: https://dodropshipping.com/what-do-people-buy-the-most-online/
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Chaffey, D (2016) ‘How many connected devices do consumers use today?’ Smart Insights [Online].
Available on: https://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-strategy/integrated-marketing-communications/many-connected-devices-use-today-chartoftheday/
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Shephard, J (2023) ‘30 Vital Video Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2023’ Social Shephard [Online].
Available at: https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Admin (2022) ‘How has the internet changed peoples’ buying habits?’ InnovativeZone [Online].
Available at: https://innovativezoneindia.com/internet-changed-peoples-buying-habits/
[Accessed 19th April 2023]

12. Image references
Fig 1. Petrosyan, A (2023) Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of January 2023 [Graph] on statista.com
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
[Accessed 17th April 2023]
Fig 2. Ceci, L (2023) Number of mobile internet users worldwide from 2019 to 2028 [Graph] on statista.com
Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1146312/mobile-internet-users-in-the-world
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Fig 3. Thomas, R (2019) The Mobile Consumer Is The Consumer [Photo] on Inmobi.
Available at: https://www.inmobi.com/blog/the-mobile-consumer-is-the-consumer
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Fig 4. Monkey business (2019) Man Using Digital Tablet [Photo] on depositphotos.
Available at: https://depositphotos.com/109940532/stock-photo-man-using-digital-tablet.html
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Fig 5. Zephyr_p (n.d) Male hand holding computer mouse while using desktop computer [Photo] on adobe stock.
Available at: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/search?k=desktop+computer&search_type=usertyped&asset_id=272756067
[Accessed 18th April 2023]
Fig 6. Chinnapong (2020) Social media app for digital marketing e-commerce on smartphone mobile online application [Photo] on
istock.
Available at:https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/social-media-app-for-digital-marketing-e-commerce-on-smartphone-mobile-online-
gm1249669064-364252371?phrase=google
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Fig 7. Bump, P (2022) How (& Where) Consumers Discover Products on Social Media. [Graph] on Hubspot.
Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-product-research
[Accessed 19th April 2023]

13. Image references continued
Fig 8. Filadendron (2017) Online shopping stock photo [Photo] on istock.
Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/online-shopping-gm870551868-145213925?phrase=online%20clothing%20shopping
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Fig 9. Staista (2021) Online Videos Have an Audience Reach of 92% Worldwide [Graph] on Social Shephard.
Available at: https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics
[Accessed 19th April 2023
Fig 10. Anyaberkut (2023) Customer experience concept, rating and comments online. [Photo] on istock.
Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/customer-experience-concept-rating-and-comments-online-gm1462944790-496140662?
phrase=person%20reading%20online%20reviews
[Accessed 19th April 2023]
Fig 11. Katlova, E (2022) Young woman working from home with a boston terrier dog. [Photo] on istock.
Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/young-woman-working-from-home-with-a-boston-terrier-dog-freelancer-businesswoman-gm1370511233-440048175?
phrase=people%20using%20technology%20at%20home [Accessed 19th April 2023]