Mark Wright, chief executive officer of @plan., an Internet market research firm, says if he were a corner travel agent, he'd be "somewhat nervous" in 1998.

Consumers are realizing that it is more enjoyable to shop for plane tickets on a Web site than it is to visit a travel agency in person, he said.

And "the number of people willing to buy a big ticket item on the Web is growing exponentially."

In 1997, people began to feel comfortable making small purchases, items for $50. Now, more people are purchasing expensive items, like $1,500 plane tickets.

The travel industry is just one example of a Web market that will continue to present a compelling alternative to traditional marketing. Other industries include computers, software, groceries, books, clothing, specialty gifts, event ticketing and music.

Nicole Vanderbilt -- director of digital commerce at Jupiter Communications, a research group -- said consumers are not as antsy over issues such as security and credit card fraud as they had been a year ago. They feel more secure about the Web because they are better educated about the medium.

If a consumer does experience credit card fraud, he or she is liable only for $50, and some Web sites, she said, are picking up the loss for the consumer.

Vanderbilt said online transactions are expected to account for $2.6 billion in 1997 and $5.8 billion in 1998.

Projections for 1998 are travel, $1.8 billion; personal computers, $1.8 billion; groceries, $270 million; specialty gifts, $219 million; books, $216 million; event ticketing, $127 million; music, $81 million and clothing, $71 million.

 1. Dynamic HTML
 2. New Domains
 3. Metered Bandwidth
 4. Web-TV
 5. Rich Ads
 6. The Big Chill
 7. Middlemen
 8. Digital Detente
 9. Cybercommerce
10. Web standards

 1. Push
 2. Windows CE
 3. 56K
 4. Cable Modem
 5. Web-TV
 6. Net Magazines
 7. Apple's Demise
 8. Mac Clones
 9. E-Cash
10. Comdex '96