Over 95% of Las Vegas adults have access to the internet, according to Nielsen. Almost 65% of these consumers spend more than five hours a week connected.

Nielsen reports that Las Vegas consumers go online to stay connected to friends and family; research products and services; learn the latest news, and obtain directions to where they are going and know what the weather will be when they get there.  

Here are some of the many reasons why Las Vegas internet users go online each month

• Social Media: 75%
• Weather: 51%
• Online Banking: 44%
• Maps/Directions: 41%
• Product Reviews: 37%
• Restaurant Reviews: 30%
• Current Events: 28%
• Sports Scores/News: 21%
• Job Search: 15%
• Real Estate: 12%

And, of course, there is shopping.  Over the past six months, according to Nielsen, 75.9% of Las Vegas consumers shopped online for every imaginable product and service including, cars, golf clubs, office supplies, wedding rings, mattresses, tires, medicine, shoes, socks, and eyeglasses.

To reach local consumers while they are online, Las Vegas businesses will spend $429 million for digital advertising in 2020, according to Borrell Associates.  Here is how the money is being spent:

Las Vegas shoppers are expected to spend a record $5.5 billion online in 2020, based on the most recent projections from eMarketer. This would represent year-over-year growth of 32.4%.

During the same period, according to eMarketer, receipts at brick-and-mortar stores have contracted by 3.2%.  Overall, excluding gas and auto sales, e-commerce will account for 20.6% of all retail sales this year.

The Coronavirus pandemic is credited with this seismic shift in shopping behavior as consumers continue to avoid stores and opt for online shopping.

“We’ve seen e-commerce accelerate in ways that didn’t seem possible last spring, given the extent of the economic crisis,” said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “While much of the shift has been led by essential categories like grocery, there has been surprising strength in discretionary categories like consumer electronics and home furnishings that benefited from pandemic-driven lifestyle needs.”

Even before the onset of the pandemic, 75.9% of Las Vegas consumers had bought goods online over the prior six months, according to Nielsen research. Purchases included clothing, health & beauty products, travel reservations, books, furniture, and groceries.

Since the onset of the Coronavirus crisis, consumers are not flocking into the showrooms, storefronts, offices, or dining rooms of Las Vegas small business owners. It turns out, though, social distancing has not proven to be an impediment to shopping.

Clark County consumers are still spending money despite the chaos imposed by the pandemic, according to Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell & Associates. His company specializes in the collection of marketing data from business owners across the country.

"During depressions, recessions, floods, hurricane, earthquakes, fires, and, now, pandemics, commerce goes on," Mr. Borrell told members of Nevada's small business community during a recent teleconference.

To prove his point, he shared research from IBISworld  which, indicates spending continues despite a plunge in consumer confidence.