The addictive pull of Internet shopping is dragging thousands of victims into a rise of debt, including thousands of women who have run up huge credit card bills they cannot repay.  The appeal of 24-hour access and the explosion in goods and services on offer has seen a 10 percent increase in credit card debts in the UK this year.  Much of it has accounted for online spending. The latest report on Internet usage shows the number of adults logging on at home has risen from 10 million in October last year to 15.5m this month.  The report by Continental Research, which has monitored Internet access in the UK for the past six years, found that while online shopping used to be experimental it is now becoming habitual, especially for women.  Colin Shaddick, who heads the company, said, "Women are logging on in record numbers ---online shopping has certainly played a big role in this." The study found that average annual spending online is PS700 a year for each Internet shopper.  The draw of the Internet is especially strong for collectors. Business lecturer Stephen Hall, who has been buying and selling books since he was a child, now has a collection worth PS40,000.  He is passionate about the opportunities offered by shopping online. "You can find a book in minutes that you could spend months hunting down at auctions or second-hand bookshops," he said. "It can easily become addictive, and all the collectors I know use the Internet. I suspect you do waste money because you are less likely to send back a book to Little Rock, Arkansas, than take it back to the high-street shop." Like Stephen Hall, most of us can shop online sensibly---but for some it provides an easy, anonymous and accessible way to feed their habit. It also provides secrecy---a central part of any addiction. Dr Samantha Haslett, a psychologist and expert in addiction at the Promos counseling centre, said, "It's compulsive in the same way as alcohol and gambling, and addicts find themselves completely unable to stop themselves, despite debt mounting and relationships breaking up. It's the thrill and the buzz of purchasing that ignores all the negative consequences." People laugh at shopping addictions, but it's the same as food overeating:bulimicsdon't eat nice stuff, or things that are good for them. Shopping addicts are the same: they'll buy things they don't need or want or like. What they're buying is of no importance compared to the thrill they get spending money and acquiring something new. I've counseled people who have bought piles of bed linen and curtains and just left them piled up in the corner of the room.  I have seen people's marriages ruined. There's something more damaging about Internet shopping too because it takes place in the home, so the trick and secrecy is that much closer to the partner who is being tricked.  Tennis star Serena Williams this year admitted to kicking an Internet shopping addiction that saw her spending up to six hours a day online in an attempt to avoid being seen out in public.  "Every day I was in my room and I was online," Williams said. "I wasn't able to stop and I bought, bought, bought. I was just out of control." Confidence is also growing in online security. Danny Meadows-Klue, chairman of Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Internet commercial watchdog, said, "Online card fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to total credit card fraud, but it is increasing. We want to increase consumer confidence by encouraging shoppers to take simple steps to protect themselves." But there are still barriers to online shopping, declares James Goudie, a consumer psychologist at North Umbria University. "For certain items some people prefer to shop personally, for example to try on an item of clothing and feel the quality. Payment of delivery charges is also  _ ." Which of the following do you think the author would most probably agree with?
Shopping online has advanced the consumers' debt increase in a way. many items are piled up in the room corner because they are out of date. shopping addiction is harder to be removed than alcohol and gambling. paying by credit can account for the phenomenon of online shopping.