According to an ACNielsen study of 21,000 people in 38 countries, more than 627 million people have shopped online, including over 325 million within the last month.

Highlights of this very interesting study are:

Europe and North America have the highest incidence of online shoppers, with Germany, Austria and the UK topping the list, with at least 95 percent of Internet users having purchased online. In the UK and Germany, about two-thirds of these web users have made a purchase within the last month. (UK and Germany also happened to play a major role in eBay's strong 3Q revenue numbers)

In Asia Pacific, South Korea and Taiwan rank highest, with at least 90 percent of respondents claiming to have ever made a purchase online, at least six in 10 of whom have done so within the last month.

Methods of payment vary dramatically by country. While credit cards are the preferred method globally, Cash-on-delivery is the most popular payment method in China. In Japan and Taiwan, payment through a convenience store is an important online purchase payment method.

South Koreans are also the most likely to buy cosmetics/nutrition supplies online (34%), three times higher than the global average of 10%.

And I'll leave you with a quote that should serve as a call to action for any business that thinks ecommerce is something largely practiced only in developed markets...

“Our recent e-commerce studies clearly show an upward trend in global online shopping,” said David Boyd, vice president of Internet Industry Research at ACNielsen. “While there is growth in nearly all global markets, we see that the lesser developed markets are maturing faster than many of their more developed counterparts. It will not be long before we have a nearly level playing field across the globe.”