For those who plan to set up shop on the Net, Ajit Balakrishnan, chairman and chief executive officer of Rediff On The Net, has some handy tips.

"All those who are setting up on-line financial services should think again. Nearly 40 percent of Indians surfing the Net are between the ages of 20 and 25 years," he said at the India Internet World in the national capital. But this is not the age group which really make purchases on the Net. According to a survey by Rediff On The Net, most online consumers belong to the 25-34 years age group. Besides, most of the online buyers are young professionals, who have no time to go out and buy but have the money, and have Internet access because of at their office. Interestingly, of the 100 people who visit a site, only two are likely to buy a product on the Net, said Mr Balakrishnan.

Nearly 80 of the each 100 Indians surfing the Net are males, but the female population is getting there fast. Rediff has witnessed a growth of nearly 5 percent in the number of female surfers in the last six months, he said.

What do you hate most, and when, on the Net? Most online consumers hate slow loading. "It is a constant battle between improving the site and speeding it up," he said. More than two clicks to get somewhere on the Net also has emerged as a major irritant. Next in line is complex non-standard navigation and repetitive user recognition methods. Common registration is very difficult to implement, he agreed, but stressed on the need fo not identifying users more than once on a particular site.

Further, he said, those who respect international standards and those willing to serve niche needs are a hit with the online consumers. Although there is a move to build India certification standards, he stressed on the need to confirm to international standards certification to appeal to the global customers. Live help is also a must, specially since quite a few online consumers are not sure of how to make use of the Net," Mr Balakrishnan said.

Here are some interesting findings. Most of the Indian surfers access the Net from their offices or cybercafes. Only about 20 percent of the online users have their own Net access or can access it from home.

But average time spend by local surfers is encouraging. At 20 minutes a day, it is the same as that in case of Zee TV viewership, he said. And nearly 40 percent of the Net users login every day, too.

Addressing the concerns about security on e-commerce, Mr Balakrishnan said, "Unauthorised use of a credit card is easier to detect on the Net than in a restaurant, because you need to give your address for delivery of goods while ordering on the Net."