American actress Bo Derek once remarked that “whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness simply doesn’t know where to go shopping”. And it now seems that with the growing popularity of online shopping, for many people, this might just be a click away.
Our latest data from the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor Research 2012[1] shows that people are shopping online regardless of where they are, with 9 in 10 consumers from eight countries surveyed saying they have made an online purchase in the past year. This figure is expected to continue to grow with 92 percent of our respondents indicating that they are likely to shop online in the next year.
The 2012 research has highlighted three key trends propelling the mass adoption and rise of e-Commerce.
Beyond just online payments, online browsing is now an essential part of people’s shopping cycle – driving both online and offline purchases. 98 percent of our respondents said that they have gone online for information-gathering in the past year to increase their knowledge of a product and to decide on a purchase location for items such as books, CDs, DVDs, fashion and groceries.
The ability to access the internet via multiple electronic devices has also contributed to the rise in online shopping. Four in 10 people have browsed online for products or services via a mobile phone or tablet device in the last year, and in countries with a higher penetration of smartphone and tablet devices such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea, we have seen browsing on mobile phones exceed 40%. Hong Kong in particular saw 13% of online purchases on mobile phones and 11% on tablets. The growing prevalence of smartphone and tablet use translates to greater online access for a consumer to retailers anytime, anywhere; and as a result, we expect to see more people shopping on-the-go and more often.
We have seen a rise in consumer perception of online security and this has also encouraged more online purchases. This view was held by close to half of those we surveyed, who attributed the shift to the availability of more online payment security features such as Verified by Visa and security around personal and financial information upheld by financial institutions and online merchants.
Armed with a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes to online shopping, Visa strives to continually deliver next-generation solutions that allow consumers to enjoy the same convenient, reliable and secure experience they have come to expect from us – both offline and online.
For the full report on Visa’s APCEMEA e-Commerce Consumer Monitor Research 2012 survey, please visit here.
[1] The Visa APCEMEA e-Commerce Consumer Monitor Research 2012 is an online survey conducted by TNS from March to June 2012. The survey asked over 8,000 respondents from eight countries around the world (Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Russia, Philippines and South Africa) about their online payment attitudes and behaviour. Respondents were internet users (accessing internet at least once a week), aged 18-55 years old, selected based on a soft quota taking into consideration age, gender and annual household income.
Posted by: Maureen Siah, ECommerce, Visa on October 22, 2012 at 8:50 am
