How the World Shops Online

During January and February 2012, an independent research agency surveyed 19,000 global consumers from 15 leading online shopping countries and 153 online merchants on behalf of WorldPay. Interesting results included:

• US consumers spend 23% of their disposable income online, slightly higher than the 22% average across the 15 countries. Online consumers in India were found to spend the greatest share of their disposable income online, at 33%, followed by those in China (31%), Brazil (27%), and the UK (25%).

• 44% of global online spending takes place between 6 PM and 12 AM, with a peak at 8:40 PM. 30% of shopping is done in the afternoon and early evening (12 PM-6 PM), while 16% is done in the morning hours (6 AM-12 PM), and 10% between 12 AM and 6 AM. 

• In terms of shopping locations, notably, 95% of online spending worldwide is made at home, with the most common areas being the living room (54%), bedroom (43%), and study (35%).
  Almost 3 in 10 global online shoppers say they make purchases online when at work. 8% buy online while on holiday, 7% while out at a cafe, bar, restaurant, or pub, and 6% while at college or university, in a car or in a physical retail store.

• Many respondents multitask while shopping online, making it both more difficult and more important for merchants to capture their attention. 46% report watching TV; 42% listen to music; 31% use social networks; 29% chat to family and friends; and 21% listen to the radio.

• More than one-third of heavy shoppers (who spent 30% or more of their disposable income online in the past year) have purchased online using a smartphone, compared to 17% of medium shoppers (who spent between 10 and 30% of their disposable income online). Heavy shoppers are also much more likely to have shopped via a tablet (23% vs. 9%). 5% of global online shoppers have purchased online using a smart TV.

So what is the importance to you of this information? Well you will have to decide but let me give you an example. 8:40 PM is the peak of online shopping, if you are running a live promotion 8:40PM is the time to do it! What other gems can you see in this data?

Consumers Develop Their Own Multichannel Strategy

Retailers Need to Adjust to the New Multichannel Reality

A new Price Waterhouse Cooper survey finds, people aren’t waiting for stores, but  developing a multichannel experience for themselves as they go along. According to the report “Because most retailers haven't yet created efficient multichannel models, consumers are working it out for themselves, using multiple channels in ways that best suit them”.

PwC also found:

• Consumers may choose to research a product in the store then use their mobile phone to find a better price online, and then call into the retailer's customer service line to order and have the item shipped to their home. In essence, consumers are creating their own multichannel experiences by leveraging multiple retailers across a single category or product.

• In the U.S., 72% of online shoppers consider themselves “very accomplished.” at multichannel shopping.

• Social media clearly has a large potential for retailers, with 32% of U.S. respondents saying they use some form of social media daily. (Both China and Hong Kong had higher social-media participation.) Yet overall, only 3% of the survey’s respondents have used it to actually make a purchase.

• The study, based on responses from more than 7,000 consumers around the world, found that while most people like online shopping because of its 24/7 convenience, it is the pricing, free and fast delivery, and a wide range of products that appeals to them most.

• Shipping costs are a substantial barrier. Even though retailers would gain an additional margin opportunity of 8 to 12%, 59% of retailers still charge for shipping and in the U.S., two out of three shoppers say they’ll bail out of a transaction if it turns out they have to pay shipping charges.

• Online shopping’s appeal is also greater than many acknowledge. While 2010’s online sales penetration of total retail sales was 8%, once grocery sales are excluded, that rises to 11% of all sales. And in such categories as PCs and software, it’s 50%.

• Online shoppers buy in many more channels than some realize, the survey finds, with more than 90% of global online shoppers buying books, music and films, clothing and footwear online. And more than 60% of online shoppers have made purchases in categories with relatively little online shopping, such as jewelry, watches, sports equipment and outdoor goods.

PwC makes some suggestions:
Retailers need to focus more on  the emerging reality of the physical stores, as well as the online experience. The store of the future, PwC says, will most likely be “a showroom where customers come for inspiration, to browse and to physically interact with, and to road test the products, as well as a convenient transaction point and customer service center, where customers come to complete a journey started on the web or to seek service for products bought regardless of the purchase channel.”

By 2015, PwC says, it expects U.S. e-commerce sales to reach $279 billion.