As Google shows that internet surfing has overtaken the TV as a pleasure activity, mums (and house dads) living in suburbia are revealed as the new audience for websites.

In the UK the Governments aim is to put public services online. The increased availability of broadband is allowing families tied to the house at home to make more use of the internet, and the term mousewife has been coined for these folks. Planning applications and making payments are the most popular services, and council websites are receiving 13 million visits a month.

Research is showing that more and more families are using these online services, finding it easy to access government and local authority services at times and places convenient to them. Some councils are finding that the internet is starting to take over from the telephone as the most popular communication channel.

The UK Government is delighted with the success of its e-government venture, as it enables savings to be made on services as mousewives self-serve information costs can be cut by lowering staffing levels, or money can be diverted into those services which need more cash.

Older people, Silver Surfers are also finding they like to contact their councils in this way.

So what does the emergence of the Mousewife mean to the commercial webmaster? Internet usage during the day is becoming serious competition for day time television. People at home during the day are as likely to spend their time surfing the internet as watching repeats and chat shows.

Internet shopping has increased considerably over the last few years, and people are used to finding information on line rather than going to the local library: in fact this is one area where the world wide web really does have one over on local authority services the book you want is never out! (Although you do have to be able to find it!)

If you have a business getting an internet presence is an absolute must as people change their behaviour. No longer will they want to pick up the phone to see if that holiday cottage is available they want instantaneous information. If they want information about an area they wont want to buy a travel book, but look around at the different information available on the net!

In the next few months the UK Government is going to undertake a vast advertising campaign promoting online services and encouraging take up. As more and more Mousewives and Silver Surfers start contacting their councils online, renewing their car tax and paying their parking fines they will get more used to the internet, and will depend less and less on the telephone or high street store.

The world never stands still you have just got to make sure you move along at the same pace (or be just a little ahead).

When you are designing your site, think of the Mousewife and the Silver Surfer and what can you do to attract her (or him!) away from those chat shows and into your virtual store!

According to a study by BizRate Research, 60% of women were already planning their online buying in September, compared to only 42% of men. Women are also reported to carry the burden of Christmas shopping with 55% taking on the responsibility, compared to only 45% of men. However, as more and more retailers go online, women can exploit the internet by saving themselves time, money and effort.

There are many advantages to shopping online:

* You have more choice

* Prices tend to be lower

* Its scientifically proven to be less stressful!

Choice:

Even if you live in a big city, youd have to be prepared to shop in multiple districts to get the same choice that you would have online. Most high street retailers now have a presence on the internet in any case and you may find that the website could offer more choice than your local store. In addition to big brand names, there are also lots of specialist sites on the internet which only have an online presence. Such online specialists include CCL a computer system and accessory specialist, Justtoys -with toys for kids and big kids ( http://www.justtoys.com/ ) and ChristmasHamper.com ( http://www.christmashamper.com/ )or Highland Fayre which specialise in luxury food and drink hampers.

Lower prices:

Many websites offer minimal delivery charges and because they dont have the same costs as a bricks and mortar business, their prices to the consumer are often lower. Most transactions on the internet start with a search engine, but this is not the only method of research that you can do for your Christmas shopping. Perhaps you have heard of price comparison sites which exist for very specific markets such as personal finance like moneynet.co.uk ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/ ) or for more general shopping services (Kelkoo, Ciao ). These sites act as mini search engines and they will collect data from a range of services showing the results of products with the lowest prices.

Internet shopping is healthier

Internetretailer.com reported in 2003 that when twin sisters were asked to conduct Christmas shopping - one online, one offline, the sister who did her shopping on the internet fared much better. ( http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=10847 )The sister who shopped on the high street took four hours to complete her shopping trip. At the start of the shopping expedition, this sister had a heart rate of 67 which rose to 138 whilst shopping and was still 79 when she got home apparently tired and cold, with sore feet.

On the other hand, her twin sister who had done her Christmas shopping online took only 36 minutes to do her purchasing and that was without broadband! Her initial heart rate was 66 and didnt rise above 67. Instead of dragging the kids around the shops, this twin was able to have them on her lap, and all the shopping was delivered direct to the home.

And if you want some assistance in the New Year to lose those few extra pounds, theres always online help for losing weight. The high profile website theleanteam.co.uk, as featured on Channel 4, provides useful health advice and if that still isnt enough to tempt you online for Christmas take a look at Disco Dancing Santa - http://www.northpole.com/Clubhouse/DancingSanta/