Magazines Archives - 2009 July

Click-and-mortar business the way to go for digital lifestyle products
Story 11 - E-Commerce

DIGITAL lifestyle consumers in Southeast Asia appear to favour the click-andmortar model when shopping, a survey commissioned by search engine giant Google, Inc stated.

The survey, the results of which were released in May this year, revealed that digital lifestyle consumers in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia tend to do their research of products online but buy the goods in a physical store.

The month-long survey was conducted last April by US-based research firm Netpop and covered 1,041 consumers over the age of 18 in the three markets.

“These study results underscore the importance for retailers, marketers and ad agencies to put more emphasis on online marketing activities to reach consumers, and influence the entire purchasing process. Another effective strategy is to tightly integrate their online marketing activities with their offline marketing activities to maximise retail store sales,” said Lori Sobel, marketing director of Google Southeast Asia.

According to the survey — which sought to understand the purchasing pattern of 14.5 million digital lifestyle consumers in the three markets — gadget shoppers spend over 60 minutes to research on products on the Internet, 20-33 minutes to consult friends and family, and as much time to look at in-store promotional displays, study brochures and catalogues, or ask sales staff at the store.

Meanwhile, 23% pointed to the Internet as the top source of influence in their purchases, with 17% indicating family and friends, 10% identifying safes staff, and 10% saying they were influenced by in-store promotional displays or promotions.

“More use the Internet than any other source at each step of the product research and purchase process — from interest to evaluation to price/feature comparisons and even to the final decision on what and where to buy,” said Google.

However, “a vast majority of digital lifestyle products are purchased in retail stores”, with few purchased online, Google added.

“Consumers prefer to see, feel and touch the products; place heavy emphasis on good in-store customer service; and are conscious of incurring extra shipping costs,” Google noted.

The survey is the first conducted by Google on digital lifestyle product consumption.

To view other stories, get a copy of Retail Asia. To subscribe, please download the subscription form from http://www.retailasiaonline.com/subscription.html