Commentary

85% Of World's Online Population Shopped On The Web

85% Of World's Online Population Shopped On The Web

According to the latest Nielsen Global Online Survey on internet shopping habits, more than 85% of the world's online population has used the internet to make a purchase, increasing the market for online shopping by 40% in the past two years.

Bruce Paul, VP, Customized Research, Nielsen US, said "When The Nielsen Company conducted its first global survey into internet shopping trends two years ago, approximately 10% of the world's population (627 million) had shopped online. Within two years, this number has increased by approximately 40% to 875 million."

Globally, more than half of internet users have made at least one purchase online in the past month, according to Nielsen.

Among internet users, the highest percentage shopping online is in South Korea, where 99% of those with internet access have used it to shop, and 79% of these internet users have shopped in the past month. Other prolific shoppers are in the last month are:

  • the UK 76%
  • Switzerland 67%
  • the US 57%.

Internet Users Who Have Ever Purchased Online

Location

% of Internet Users

Europe

93%

   the UK

97

   Germany

97

North America

92

   the US

94

Asia Pacific

84

   Japan

97

Latin America

79

EEMA

67

Global Total

86

Source: ?The Nielsen Company, 2007/Marketing Charts, January 2008

Globally, says the report, the most popular purchased items over the internet are books,clothing/accessories/shoes, videos/DVDs/games, airline tickets, and electronic equipment.

  • Among Germany's internet users, 55% said they bought books, 42% had bought clothes/accessories/shoes and one in four had purchased music/videos/DVD's in the previous three months.
  • During the same period, among internet users in the UK, 45% bought books online, followed by videos/DVDs/games (44%), clothing/accessories/shoes (38%), music (37%) and one in four internet shoppers also purchased and airline tickets/reservations online.
  • Among US internet users, in the previous month 41% had bought clothing/shoes/accessories, 38% bought books and one in three internet shoppers bought videos/DVDs/games.

Popular Online Purchases(Global Average, % of Online Purchasers in Past Three Months)

Purchase

% of Online Purchasers

Books

41%

Clothing, Accessories, Shoes

36

Video, DVD, Games

24

Airline ticket, reservations

24

Electronic equipment

23

Music

19

Cosmetics, nutrition supplies

19

Tours, hotel reservations

16

Event tickets

15

Computer software

14

Groceries

14

Toys, dolls

9

Sporting goods

8

Automobiles & parts

4

Sports memorabilia

3

Other

20

Source: ?The Nielsen Company, 2007/Marketing Charts, January 2008

According to Nielsen, online shoppers tend to stick to the shopping sites they are familiar with, with 60% saying they buy mostly from the same site.

"This shows the importance of capturing the tens of millions of new online shoppers as they make their first purchases on the internet. If shopping sites can capture them early, and create a positive shopping experience, they will likely capture their loyalty and their money," said Paul.

In selecting sites on which to shop, according to the study, one-third used a search engine or just surfed around to find the best online store. One in four relied on personal recommendations.

Shopping Site Selection Method(Global Average, % of Online Purchasers in Past Three Months)

Selection Method

% of Online Purchasers

Regular purchase site

60%

Surfing

33

Search engine

31

Special offer

30

Recommendation

23

Shopping comparison

23

Regular offline store

20

Online review

18

Online advertising

14

TV, print or other advertising

11

Other

6

Source: ?The Nielsen Company, 2007/Marketing Charts, January 2008

Jonathan Carson, President, International, Nielsen Online concludes that "The explosion in Consumer Generated Media over the last year means that this reliance on word of mouth, over other forms of referral, looks set to increase."

For more on this report, please visit here.

Next story loading loading..