• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 23, 2004

Women Do Most Shopping Online; Men Outspend Them

Bob Hayes, Vice President and General Manager, AOL eCommerce, says "Thanks to these survey findings, everyone now knows that men are closet shoppers, so long as they don't have to get out of their comfortable chairs to do it. While women do represent the majority of online shoppers, men are outspending them. And, more than that, they are no longer just shopping online for the convenience, now they are also researching and browsing and comparing prices."

According to the third annual America Online 'Online Shopping Cities' survey of more than 6,200 shoppers who research and or make purchases online, men are shopping online more than women. And not just by a hair: the AOL survey says men plan to spend up to 15 percent more online this holiday season than women, 326 dollars for men vs. 284 dollars for women.

These findings may come as something of a surprise to women. Ninety percent of the married women questioned think they do more online shopping than anyone in their households, and value bargain-hunting more than their male counterparts.

The survey uncovered these facts about men who shop online:

• Research or browse online an average of 31 times a month vs. 22 times for women
• Make 20 percent more purchases online each month than women
• 6 vs. 5 - Spend 204 dollars online each month vs. 186 dollars(a)
• 42 percent shop for luxury goods online vs. 35 percent of women
• Are willing to spend 1,751 dollars for a single item online vs. 787 dollars for women
• Plan to spend 592 dollars this holiday season vs. 547 dollars for women
• Plan to spend 15 percent more online for holiday gifts this year than women (326 dollars vs. 284 dollars), with online spending accounting for 55 percent of their total holiday budget.

Other findings from the survey:

• Women are more likely than men to say that finding bargains and deals is important when shopping online (78 percent vs. 74 percent). Men are more likely to say that shopping for bargains and deals is easier on the Internet (70 percent vs. 64 percent).
• When doing their holiday shopping, more women get stressed about going over budget than men (21 percent vs. 16 percent).
• The sexes agree that long lines at malls and stores are the most stressful things about holiday shopping.
• Men claim significantly longer shopping tenure than women. Approximately 46 percent say they have been shopping online more than three years, compared to 39 percent of women.
• Both men and women agree that finding bargains online is easier because they can comparison shop and search for items across many different sites or online retailers.
• Seattle boasts the most generous men who plan to spend an average of nearly 771 dollars on gifts this holiday season 38 percent higher than the overall average for all shoppers in the survey.
• Hartford, Conn., meanwhile, is home to the most generous women, who say they plan to spend an average of 646 dollars this season.
• Portland, OR meanwhile, has been crowned 'Scrooge Capitol' among both men and women men there said they plan to spend a miserly 393 dollars this holiday season; women only 441 dollars.

You can find out more here.