I'm looking for data / statistics (preferably free) concerning the
sale of juvenile / children's products via e-commerce.  Specifically,
the value of this market and demographics data concerning who is
purchasing these products online versus "traditional" retailing
channels.  Data showing trends would also be extremely helpful.  Thank
you.

Hello, infoseeker9876-ga!

  I have been researching your question on and off for quite some time
now! It is very challenging to find market statistics for “free.” As
I’m sure you know, most of these specific statistics come in reports
costing thousands of dollars. However, I have compiled some good
information for you that I believe will prove useful.

 “Juveniles represent a mainly untapped market for eCommerce, with
Nielsen/NetRatings finding about 20 million of the 100 million US
Internet users that went online in July, to be younger than 17 years
in age.” Lack of credit card ownership among teens currently hinders
online shopping, but teens browse the internet to search for product
information before making offline purchases. However, the potential
for luring a very sizable segment of the population into the ecommerce
market it looming. “[the market's] sheer size represents a unique
opportunity to develop loyalty among future buyers,” according to TS
Kelly of NetRatings.
  “Given that US teens spent an average of USD 116 per week on
consumer goods in 2001, Teen Research Unlimited reports, e-tailers are
missing out on a lucrative market by not offering more alternative
e-payment options.” Forrester Research predicts that by 2004, spending
by the US teen market will double to USD 14.1 billion.
Read “Youth E-commerce Market is Still Untapped.” eCommerceTimes
(8/16/2002) at http://www.epaynews.com/index.cgi?survey=&keywords=juvenile%20products&optional=&subject=&location=&ref=keyword&f=view&id=1029490309622215212&block=

 Only 31% of online teenagers surveyed have bought a product online,
according to a 2001 study from the Pew Internet & American Life
Project. Read “Internet Part of Daily Life for Teens.” Pew Internet
and American Life (6/5/2001) at
http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356905&rel=true

 Youth online shopping habits
  Statistics from the Zandl Group:
   “One in five people aged between 8 and 24 in the US bought online
in 2000.”
     Favorite purchases: event tickets, books, entertainment software.
     Favorite online retail stores: “Amazon, eBay, Alloy.com, Gap.com,
  JCrew.com, Footlocker.com.”
   Statistics from Harris Interactive:
     “Boys are more likely to buy holiday gifts online than girls.”
     "Girls across all age ranges spend more online than boys, even
though “boys have higher discretionary incomes.”
   Lack of credit cards and inability to handle goods before purchase
is a barrier to online shopping for youth. “Young people also tend to
prefer shopping at the mall in groups to shopping alone on the
Internet.”
  “Harris predicts that young people are more likely to shop online as
digital wallets, online purchase cards, and debit cards aimed at
teenagers become more popular.”
Read “Young People Slow to Shop Online.” Zandl Group (2/14/2001) at
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356457&rel=true

  A 1999 Jupiter Communications survey of 600 teenagers and children
predicted that by 2002, US children and teenagers will spend
approximately $1.3 billion online. Of this age group, spending
patterns will break down as follows:
  Children (13 & under) - $100 million    
  Teenagers -  $1.2 billion 
 “The study estimates that 67 percent of US teenagers with Internet
access have already shopped or purchased online, while 37 percent of
online kids have done so.” Read “US Kids to Spend USD1.3 Billion
Online.” Jupiter Communications (6/8/1999) at
http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905354944&rel=true

 Some more, 1999 predictions!
  “Children between the ages of five and 18 will spend an estimated
$1.3 billion online by 2002. (U.S. News and World Report, 1999)”
  “67% of online teens (ages 13 to 18) and 37% of online children
(ages five to 12) have researched product items or bought products
online. (eShop Weekly, 1999)”
  “52% of those surveyed (between ages of five and 17) have asked
parents to purchase products from the Web. (eShop Weekly, 1999)”
 Read “Internet Advertising and Children.” National Institute on Media
and Family (2000) at
http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/research/fact/internetads.shtml

 A study by CyberDialoge for Disney revealed that children have an
influence on their parent’s online behavior. “Half (50%) of those
polled said their child had influenced them to make an online
purchase..” Read “It's a family affair for web-savvy moms.” Disney
(3/9/2001) at http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356538&rel=true
 
 A six-year study by SpectraCom and Circle 1 Network revealed “nearly
60 percent of the kids surveyed have asked parents to buy things
they’ve seen online. That’s up from only 40 percent in 1998, and has
increased steadily every year.” Read “Parents face Internet fueled
pester-power.” eMarketer (1/21/2001) at
http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357513&rel=true

 Children are becoming more active participants in the online buying
process. According to NFO Worldgroup, “Seventy-four percent of US
parents who shop online allow their children to take part in the
online buying process.” Not only are children involved in picking the
colors of goods, but they also “take charge of pointing and clicking
48 percent of the time, and suggest websites to buy from 42 percent of
the time.”
 Statistics of the 3,589 parents surveyed follow:
  48% plan to spend more time shopping online in the next 3 months
than they did last year.
  53% will spend about the same amount of time shopping online.
  7%  plan to spend less time shopping online.
 When parents were asked which of 11 online shopping sites they would
choose for back-to school shopping, the answers were as follows:
    Target.com – 52%
    J.C. Penny - 48%
    L.L Bean -   48%  
  Next in popularity were”
   Gap.com
   Amazon.com
   Bluelight.com
  Least favorite were:
    bn.com
    EddieBauer.com
    Officemax.com
    LandsEnd.com
    Staples.com
  Of the 3,589 survey respondents:
   1,080 had children of primary school age
   384 of those parents planned to shop online for school supplies
during the next three months.
 Read “Kids Join in Online Shopping Process.” InfoWorldGroup
(8/14/2001) at http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357078&rel=true

  A 1999 survey by Quicken revealed that while only a small percentage
(2.3%) of all parents were buying back-to-school products for their
children online, those who did purchase products online spent more
than their offline counterparts. The online stores with a bricks and
mortar counterpart, such as LLBean, Land’s End and Toys R Us were more
likely to attract online, back-to-school shoppers. Read “Back to
School Shoppers Spend More Online.” Quicken.com (8/24/1999) at
http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905355226&rel=true

 Over 52 percent of women with Internet access in the US have
children.   Preferences for internet use in a poll of US and European
mothers showed:
   Women with three or more children have the highest affinity for the
communications/email sector, followed by games and TV websites.
   Mothers with one or two children have the highest affinity for
family websites
   Mothers with only one child have the highest affinity for fashion
and beauty websites.
Read “Internet Habits of Online Moms Revealed.” NetValue(4/27/2001) at
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905356706&rel=true

  Compared to other online products, like books and CD’s, women are
more reluctant to buy clothes and toys online than at traditional
stores. Women tend to want to see and feel these products before
purchasing. Read “Dot Com Commerce,” by Tracy Roth. TMCNet.com
(4/2000) at http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columns/tracey042000.htm

General information regarding consumer online shopping (though not
necessarily restricted to the children’s market) may still be helpful
in extrapolating information to children’s ecommerce:
  A 2002 Jupiter Research consumer survey, titled “Redefining the
Online Retail Consumer”(6/26/2002) at
http://www.jup.com/sps/research/reportoverview.jsp?doc=ret02-v02
reveals that out of the total online shopping segment (approximately
82 million):
   “10% are “active multichannel shoppers, meaning that they have
purchased across channels—including the Internet and the physical
store or catalog—of the same retailer. (For example, a consumer buys
from Target interchangeably in its stores and also via the Target.com
Web site.)”
    31% use the internet primarily as a “research tool” for offline
purchases. As online shopping becomes more mainstream, this segment is
expected to decline.
    Active multichannel shoppers with the “longest tenure” online are
the most inclined to make purchases across all product lines, as
opposed to one or two types of products.
    Active multichannel shoppers were also the most inclined to buy
products at traditional retail outlets, after researching products
online.
For more information regarding this portion of the Jupiter Survey,
refer to “Landscape: Active Multichannel Shoppers Drive Revenue, but
Not Necessarily Profit.” Jupiter Consumer Retail Report, Retail 2002
at http://www.jup.com/sps/research/report.jsp?doc=ret02-v02&Page=2

  The online baby gift shop market is already overcrowded, making it
hard for retailers to gain a loyal customer base and stay afloat. The
entry of BabyStripes.com, which bills itself as a boutique, baby-gift
site, is aware of the size of the potential market: “4 million U.S.
babies a year, 12 million American households pregnant or with
children under 3, $10 billion a year spent on those children. In order
to target online customers, BabyStripes.com has developed their own
strategy. “The company says it's going after the intersection of two
markets -- e-commerce and the tendency of couples to have children
during their peak earning years.”… “Our primary target market is
consumers in the 25 to 44 age range who are balancing career and
lifestyle choices," said Siff. "These are people with well-developed
tastes and the income to support them. We also are targeting adults
ages 45 to 55, of whom half are grandparents. This is a growing market
that is increasingly turning to the Internet to find the goods and
services that meet their lifestyle needs."
Read “Welcome to an Overpopulated World,” by Gavin McCormick.
Boston.Internet.com (4/28/2000) at 
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/351261

  Overall, this is a compilation of varied information that I hope
will prove useful in answering your question. Unfortunately, publicly
available information only comes in snippets! If I can be of further
help, please let me know.

umiat-ga
  
Google Search terms
+ecommerce +children’s +market
+most bought children's products online

---

Clarification of Answer by umiat-ga on 16 Sep 2002 17:32 PDT

Infoseeker,
 
 I am also sorry that you did not get the answer you were looking for.
However, in a similar question you have asked, which is yet
unanswered, you were given reference to a report about the infant and
toddler market. This should give you some idea of the terminology. As
you can see from the articles I referenced from reputable research
firms, the terms "juvenile" and "children" are the accepted terms for
an older age group.
 Anytime a questioner rates a researcher with 1 star, it is meant to
reflect terribly bad research. I believe my research was fine and
provided a very adequate answer. The fact that you meant a different
age group did not detract from my research, Unfortunately, it merely
reflected the problems that can occur when questions are not clear.
 I do believe, however, that you can gleen some information out of
this answer. The last three major paragraphs, starting with "Compared
to other online products..give a partial answer to your question about
"online vs. traditional retailing channels." I also believe that any
demographic and gender information involving the purchase of toys is
useful.

umiat-ga

Perhaps the question needed clarification, because, unfortunately, the
answer, for the most part, did not address my concern.  I am concerned
with the what may be better described as the "baby products" market,
i.e., cribs, car seats, diaper bags, etc.  I used the terms "juvenile"
and "children" in my question (as opposed to "baby") because they
appeared to be the accepted descriptors or terms of art in the
research that I had looked at.

Infoseeker,

It might have been helpful for both you and the Researcher who tackled
your question if you had included the term "baby products" (and a
descriptor of what you meant by those, i.e. crib sheets, etc.), in
addition to the other terms you used.  When seeking information, one
can never have too much detail.

Additionally, if a Researcher misses the mark on an answer, you can
ask for a clarification of the answer before rating the answer.  If
you've made a mistake in your query, let the Researcher know so s/he
can try a different tack - we're happy to correct any problems if you
just let us know about them!

--Missy