Regardless of income level-or sex-people with Web browsers find the Net a comfortable place to say, "Charge it!" "The Web has become more mainstream as users become more comfortable with technology," says Dan Campbell, director of client service at Media Metrix Inc., a Web audience measurement company in New York. "The hype over the danger of shopping online seems to be dying down. More people are taking the plunge."

But in many ways retailers haven't quite caught up with the variety of people roaming the Web. According to Media Metrix, women make up 40% of Net users but only 35% of Net shoppers. Why? Of the top 10 Web shopping si tes, six are generally hangouts for guys: places that sell computer software and hardware. Only one, QVC Inc., specifically caters to women. Women, however, spend proportionally more of their Web time-16% to 10%-at shopping sites. These numbers demonstrate that businesses need to better understand the dynamics of the online marketplace.

As Web shopping grows more popular, vendors may mull the idea of shunning traditional middlemen and selling directly to end users. Though the Internet makes it possible to bypass dealers, distributors, and even retailers, senior writer Clinton Wilder notes that it doesn't always make good business sense (see story, " Distributors Safe "). Indeed, exploiting Internet technology to help your dealers rather than compete against them is proving to be a more reasonable approach.

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