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Dec 2011Our first global survey of online shoppers reveals a world rife with online "experts" who shop across all product categories, not just music or books. This online savvy comes with increased demands for faster service, more selection, and more transparent information in shipping and tracking of goods.
We commissioned 7,005 online surveys across three continents covering eight markets in August and September 2011. Respondents in each market were chosen to reflect the national profiles in terms of age, gender, employment status, and region. The study looks at the habits and preferences of online shoppers from eight different markets, including the US, mainland China, Hong Kong, Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Over 905 online shoppers were surveyed across 27 cities in mainland China.
Below are some highlights from the report.
- Price ranked second to convenience in terms of reasons why shoppers were attracted to online retailing;
- Online shoppers in China shop far more often than those in any other market, an average of 8.4 times per month. Around 70% of the survey respondents in mainland China shop online at least once a week;
- Mainland Chinese consumers shop online nearly four times as often as their Western European counterparts and nearly twice as often as online shoppers in the US and the UK;
- 69% of the respondents consider themselves to be either 'confident' or 'experts' in terms of researching and purchasing via the Internet. In mainland China, the proportion of these 'expert' shoppers is highest, at 86%;
- Chinese shoppers purchase about 60-65% of their clothing, footwear, books, music and films online. The comparable figures for the rest of the markets are around 35-45%; and
- Chinese online shoppers use social media far more than those in other countries, meaning that social media will have relatively bigger impact on their purchasing decisions.
