The latest survey on online shopping habits by MasterCard Worldwide revealed that online shoppers shopped more frequently in the fourth quarter 2008 than in the same period in the previous year.
MasterCard Worldwide recently published its latest Insights Report, Economic Crisis and Preference for Online Shopping in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa which shows that in India the average frequency of online purchases increased to 2.9 in Q4, 2008, up from 2.6 during the same quarter in 2007.
The survey findings suggest that economic crisis could have made online shopping more attractive. One key reason for shoppers being motivated into online purchases may be the ability to compare prices across multiple outlets hence achieving the important objective of ?value for money’.
In India, 54% of the respondents have used the internet for the purpose of online shopping.
The top three most popular online purchases included airline tickets (54%), home appliances and electronic products (48%) and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44%). When it came to impulsive shopping, Indians seemed to prefer home appliances and electronic products (51%) and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44%).
The majority of the online shopping conducted in the region was planned, with 83% of online shoppers admitting that they tend to plan their shopping in advance and conduct research on their planned purchases. 36% of respondents said they hardly ever bought things impulsively while 38% respondents said they have done impulsive shopping just a couple of times.
The top reason for impulsive buying was the discounted prices (67%) that online channels afford.
“Online shopping is growing in popularity as consumers realise the convenience and ease of shopping online. Interestingly, amongst all the markets surveyed, India is the only one where the 18-29 year age group has the highest average spend on online shopping. As businesses look to grow their online retail presence, they need to be aware of the preferences and concerns that drive online shoppers. The findings of MasterCard’s latest report offers valuable insights into the online consumption patterns of these consumers,” said TV Seshadri, vice-president and country general manager, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide.
Not only have consumers shopped online more frequently despite the economic climate, with the exception of Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, all other markets surveyed showed an increased intention for future online shopping compared to a year ago.
In terms of average spending on online shopping conducted in Q4, 2008?China, Singapore, Korea and Japan?saw a slight increase, while Hong Kong, Australia, India and Thailand saw a slight decline.
This is the second survey on online shopping habits conducted by MasterCard.
It covered 5,037 respondents across 10 markets including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE and South Africa with the latter two being new markets included in 2008.
The survey and the accompanying report do not represent MasterCard financial performance.