Magazines Archives - 2008 April

SOUTH KOREANS are the most avid e-shoppers in the world while Egyptians, Pakistanis and Filipinos are the most recalcitrant, reported a February 2008 study by The Nielsen Company.

Trends in Online Shopping: A Global Nielsen Consumer Report revealed that 99% of Internet users in South Korea have shopped online, trailed by those in Germany, the UK and Japan at 97%. Meanwhile, 67% of online users in Egypt have never made Internet purchases, compared with 60% of those in Pakistan and 55% in the Philippines.

The study, conducted from October to November 2007, polled 26,312 Internet users in 48 markets spanning Europe, the Asia-Pacific, North America and the Middle East.

In the Nielsen study, 79% of South Korean Web users have made online purchases in the past month. In contrast, the Philippines has the least frequent online shoppers — 59% of its Internet
users did not make any e-purchases in the three months prior to the survey.

Books were reportedly still the most popular online buys, followed by clothing, accessories, shoes, videos, digital video discs and games. Airline tickets, electronic equipment, cosmetics, nutrition supplies and groceries were also purchased online.

Credit cards formed the most common of mode of payment, with 60% of global online consumers using the medium for their recent online purchases. Of the credit cards used, 53% were Visa
cards, the survey revealed.

“Shopping on the Internet with the ease of a credit card is especially appealing to consumers in emerging markets who simply cannot find or buy items they want in their retail trade. The Internet has opened a whole new world of shopping for these customers,” said Nielsen Online International president Jonathan Carson.