et shopping malls and more than 23,540 retail and service companies for customers to choose from (Sussman, 1995, p. 73).
The demographics of World Wide Web users is an important factor in the rush of businesses to establish their presence on the Internet. Surveys indicate that two-thirds of Internet users hold college degrees and half are employed as professionals or managers. About a third of the users are female. A Nielsen Media Research survey found that more than 18 million people throughout the United States and Canada used the Web in the past three months, spending approximately 5 1/2 hours per week at Web sites. This particular survey estimated that 37 million North Americans have access to the Internet, a figure that is significantly higher than most estimates. Further, about 2.5 million North Americans have actually purchased goods via the Internet (Sussman, 1995, p. 74).
A wide range of companies, large and small, have established Web sites. The major players include General Electric, Merrill Lynch, and Xerox. Many businesses want in even though
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