Online shopping has become completely accepted. It is simply expected of a company that offers these products or services via the internet. Which devices does the consumer use for these (e-)commerce activities and what do they actually buy?
In this second article in a series of three, we share some of the findings of the sixth 'What's happening online' study by Ruigrok-Netpanel, which examines the most important trends in online communication. This year, 1,053 Dutch people (representative by age, gender and education) were interviewed about their online behavior.
The Netherlands in European top online shopping
Online shopping is on the rise, almost half of the Dutch have recently bought more products online (45%) and less in regular stores (32%) than they used to. More than half (58%) indicate that they regularly or often buy products online. Young people and higher educated people in particular often buy online. Figures from Statistics Netherlands show that in 2011, 69% of 16-75 year olds bought products or used services online. This puts the Netherlands in the European top.
Preferably with a large screen
The type of e-commerce related activities that people perform on the various devices is related to the size of the screen. With a larger screen, people are better able to view the details of the products and can switch more easily between different sites and tabs. For example, we see that most activities are arranged via the laptop/computer, followed closely by the tablet. The smartphone is used much less often for e-commerce because people experience it as 'inconvenient'. Arranging banking online is the only exception, this is done just as often with the smartphone as with the tablet. This is probably caused by the fact that most large banks now have well-functioning apps for smartphones.
Orientate online, buy offline
Nowadays, consumers have access to a wealth of information via the internet, but the strategic use varies greatly. Eight out of ten Dutch people orient themselves online in order to then make the final purchase in a physical store, but it can also be the other way around. For example, 40% of Dutch people go to a physical store to orient themselves, in order to then purchase the product via the internet. This behaviour is more common among higher educated people. Half of this group buys online after having oriented themselves 'offline', compared to a third of lower educated Dutch people. In addition, almost four out of ten shoppers sometimes check their smartphone to see where the product is cheapest at that moment.
Apps are purchased most often
When we look at purchasing behavior through mobile devices, we see that there is a difference in the amount of products that are purchased with the different devices. Although many apps are free, this is the product category that most online shoppers spend money on. People make more purchases with the tablet and almost all products are purchased more often with a tablet than with a smartphone. For example, people buy apps, books and electronics more often with a tablet than with a smartphone. Clothing and concert tickets are purchased almost equally often on both devices.
When buying online with a mobile device, more than half (57%) use a mobile website or an app. More than a quarter only use (mobile) websites, while one in ten only uses apps for online purchases.
Eight out of ten Dutch people (79%) say they are not or hardly influenced to buy something because uae telegram data companies they follow on Facebook or Twitter recommend something. A number of Dutch people sometimes buy something because friends or family (7%) or companies (9%) they follow recommend it via social media. It is striking that it apparently does not matter much whether it is friends or companies that give the tips. Dutch people between the ages of 18 and 44 are more susceptible to tips from others (10%) or companies (11%) via social media than the group of 45 years and older (both tips from friends and companies 3%).
In addition to advice via social media, it is also possible to make purchases via social media channels such as Facebook. However, there are only a few companies that offer this possibility. The expectation is that due to the Facebook announced Wishlist, where users can place retail products that they would like to have on their personal wish list and also buy them, there will be an increase in the sale of products via Facebook.
In short
A lot of shopping is done online, so meet this need.
Make use of the widely used online orientation phase, even if people buy offline.
People prefer to use a computer/laptop or tablet because of the size of the screen. Make sure the (mobile) site works well, so that people have the possibility to buy via a smartphone.
The mobile phone can be used well for specific tasks, such as quickly comparing prices (while walking around town).
Recommendations via social media play a role in making purchases, especially among young people, so it is smart for companies to respond to this.
The full report is available free of charge from the author, Lianne Worell, of Ruigrok | NetPanel. Also read the other articles in the series ' What's happening online '.