One-Tenth of the World's Population Shopping Online: 627 Million People Have, including 325 Million in the Last Month

More than 627 million people have shopped
online, including over 325 million within the last month, according to a study
released today by ACNielsen, the world's leading marketing research and
information company. Over 212 million online shoppers mention Books as among
the last 3 items they purchased online. In addition:

- over 135 million people have purchased DVDs and/or video games;
- close to 135 million made plane reservations;
- over 128 million purchased articles of clothing/accessories/shoes;
- over 112 million paid for music downloads and/or CDs;
- over 106 million purchased electronic devices (including cameras,
etc);
- close to 98 million bought computer hardware; and
- over 86 million consumers made hotel and/or tour bookings.

The twice-yearly global ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey, the
largest of its kind, polled over 21,100 respondents in 38 markets from Europe,
Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and South Africa (See Table 1 for
market breakdown). The study asked Internet users around the world about their
online shopping experiences including when they last made an online purchase,
what items were last purchased (see Table 2 for a list of items covered), the
method(s) of payment used, what payment card was used the most for online
purchases and the most preferred payment method when shopping online.
Not surprisingly, Europe and North America display the highest incidence
of online shoppers, with Germany, Austria and the UK topping the list, with at
least 95 percent of Internet users having purchased online. In the UK and
Germany, about two-thirds of these web users have made a purchase within the
last month.
In Asia Pacific, South Korea and Taiwan rank highest, with at least 90
percent of respondents claiming to have ever made a purchase online, at least
six in 10 of whom have done so within the last month.
The world's biggest online shoppers are in Germany and UK, averaging
seven and six purchases respectively in the past month. As a region, online
shoppers in Europe made an average of five purchases in the last month. In
fact most of the markets in Europe display higher average purchases than North
America, which showed an average of four purchases last month.
In Asia Pacific, where the average number of purchases in the past month
is five, online shoppers in markets like Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and
China, made an average of five to six purchases in the past month. South
Korea, despite its high proportion of online shoppers, generated an average of
only four purchases last month.
It is Latin America, however, which registers the lowest past month
purchase, with an average of only three purchases.
"Our recent e-commerce studies clearly show an upward trend in global
online shopping," said David Boyd, Vice President of Internet Industry
Research at ACNielsen. "While there is growth in nearly all global markets, we
see that the lesser developed markets are maturing faster than many of their
more developed counterparts. It will not be long before we have a nearly level
playing field across the globe."

Seek and You Shall Buy...Entertainment and Travel

Across the globe, the most popular items purchased on the Internet are
Books (34%), followed by Videos/DVDs/Games (22%), Airline Tickets/Reservations
(21%) and Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (20%).
What people buy varies widely by market. "International book sellers
would want to make sure their websites accommodate Korean and Chinese
languages as Books top the list of items purchased by the Chinese (56%) and
South Koreans (50%). This represents tens of millions of consumers in those
markets and this is growing rapidly," said Boyd.
Meantime, airlines and online travel agents would be wise to target
markets like Malaysia (55%), New Zealand (40%), Singapore (36%) and Australia
(35%) for which Airline Tickets/Reservations are a common online purchase. In
Japan, Groceries (26%) are the second most popular item purchased online after
Books (30%). With an average of four purchases in the past month and over 69
million estimated online shoppers, Japan presents a big opportunity for online
book sellers and grocery sites.
Over half of South Korea's 29.4 million online shoppers have purchased
Clothing/Accessories/Shoes online. South Koreans are also the most likely to
buy Cosmetics/Nutrition Supplies online (34%), three times higher than the
global average of 10%.
In Europe, Airline Tickets/Reservations are the most purchased online in
markets like Ireland (58%), Norway (45%), Finland (31%), and Spain (26%).
Tours/Hotel Reservations are commonly purchased online in Finland (30%) and
Spain (27%).
Clothing/Accessories/Shoes are also either the topmost or second most
popular online items in European markets like France (32%), Germany (30%),
Sweden (27%), Netherlands (26%), and Belgium (25%).
In UK, Videos/DVDs/Games generate the biggest online market (34%),
followed by Books (30%). Videos/DVDs/Games are also among the most online
purchased item in France (30%).
In Latin America, Electronic Equipment (30%) such as cameras, etc. are a
favorite online purchase item similar to Books (31%).
"One in ten of the world's population shopping online is not enough to
ensure successful online sales," warns Klaas Hommez, Vice President of
Consumer Products Group ACNielsen. "It is still very important for both small
and large retailers to understand the triggers that drive Brand Equity and
site usage in their category. Our studies consistently show that websites and
brands with higher Brand Equity attract higher traffic and sales."

Credit Cards the most popular payment method online

For most of these online purchases, credit card (59%) or bank transfer
(23%) was used to make the payment. In Europe, however, cash-on-delivery (COD)
is the 2nd most used payment method, following credit card, in markets like
Portugal (35%), Greece (31%), Spain (29%) and Italy (28%), while almost half
of online shoppers in UK used debit cards.
Cash-on-delivery is also a popular payment method used in some Asia
Pacific markets, ranking 2nd to credit card in India (29%) and Japan (25%).
China is most unique with COD (34%) as the most used payment method, followed
by Bank Transfer (31%). Credit card ranks only third (26%) in this market and
is followed closely by Money Transfer (23%). Yet when asked about preferred
methods, credit card (24%) actually comes second to COD (32%) in China,
indicating an unmet need for online credit card usage in this market.
A GAP analysis of the findings show an unmet demand for online payment
card usage in such markets as Russia, France, Poland, South Korea, Japan and
China. In each of these markets, a significant number of people wanted to use
a payment card but had to use another method or payment. In Canada, on the
other hand, there was an unmet demand for PayPal.
"Our recent regional and country-specific consumer studies show that a
major concern in lesser developed markets is the safety of online - and
offline - payment methods, while in more developed markets, online shoppers
are demanding more sophisticated payment methods," says Bruce Paul, Vice
President of Financial Services Research at ACNielsen.
"This represents both a challenge and an opportunity for payment card
companies and their competitors to understand exact usage drivers as they
evolve differently in each market."
In Japan and Taiwan, payment through a convenience store is an important
online purchase payment method. Where credit cards rank first in both usage
and preference, the fact that this method ranks second (Taiwan) or third
(Japan) in terms of usage and ranks second in both markets in terms of
preference, displays the important role that the convenience store plays in
online shopping in these markets.
In North America, while credit card (69%) is still the more commonly used
payment method, PayPal (29%) ranks second while debit card, primarily driven
by the US market, ranks third (22%). Although credit card was also largely
used in Latin America, PayPal generates high usage in Brazil, next to credit
card.
Nearly six in 10 say that Visa is the payment card
(credit/debit/charge/ATM/deferred debit) that they use the most, while about a
quarter claim to use MasterCard the most. Visa ranks highest across most
regions except in South Africa where over half of the consumers use MasterCard
for their online purchases and about four in 10 use Visa.
In Asia Pacific, Visa is most used for online purchases in all markets
except in China where the local brand, China Union Pay, is used by over half
of the respondents while only 29 percent use Visa. In Japan and Korea,
meantime, MasterCard ranks third following JCB in Japan and BC Card in South
Korea. In Malaysia, the online shoppers are almost equally split between Visa
(49%) and MasterCard (46%) on their online payment card usage.
In Europe, on the other hand, Visa (37%) is only second to MasterCard
(50%) in Netherlands. Both payment card brands are also almost equally split
in markets like Austria (Visa at 44% and MasterCard at 46%) and Switzerland
(Visa at 49% and MasterCard at 43%).
Meanwhile, American Express generates the highest incidence in Mexico,
with 14 percent of online shoppers claiming to have used it the most for their
online purchases. It also registers some 6-8% incidence in markets like
Australia, Italy, US, Canada, Germany, Netherlands and Singapore.

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information
provider. Offering services in more than 100 markets, the unit provides
measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and
behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products,
analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive
performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of
their marketing and sales campaigns. To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.ca or
www.acnielsen.com.


Table 1
-------

The 38 Markets Covered in the 2005 Global Consumer Confidence Study were:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
North America Europe Asia Pacific
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Austria Sweden Australia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada Belgium Switzerland China
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denmark Turkey Hong Kong
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latin America Finland UK India
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brazil France Indonesia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chile Germany Japan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico Greece South Korea
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italy Malaysia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerging Markets Ireland New Zealand
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poland Netherlands Philippines
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russia Norway Singapore
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Africa Portugal Taiwan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spain Thailand
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Table 2
-------

The 17 Categories of Items Covered in the 2005 Global Consumer Confidence
Study were:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books Airline tickets/reservations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Tours/hotel reservations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Videos/DVDs/Games Automobiles and parts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clothing/Accessories/Shoes Event Tickets
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cosmetics/nutrition supplies Sporting goods
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electronic equipment (cameras, TVs, etc) Sports memorabilia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toys/Dolls Groceries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer hardware Other items
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further information: Marlene Jenett, (905) 943-8511

Author:  

Email:    

Topic:    

Content:

Related Computer Hardware Articles

• Compuer Hardware:Mercer Human Resource Consulting Awards IBM $58 Million Contract
  18 October 2005



• Cutting-Edge Samsung SCH-a970 Will Have Verizon Wireless Customers Spinning
  18 October 2005



• Revolutionary New Online Ad Concept Drives Alexa Ranking Stats Crazy
  8 October 2005



• Glam.com and AOL Team Up to Allow Women to Shop Together Online
  8 October 2005



• D-tools.info Launches New Website to Provide Online Guide to Computer Tools
  6 October 2005



• You Don't Have to Have a Lump to Have Breast Cancer
  6 October 2005



• Skweezer and WorldLingo Take Online Translation Mobile
  26 September 2005



• Online Backup Software Company Extends Availability of Hurricane Rita Hot Site, Reminds of General Threats to Data Safety
  25 September 2005



• Twinhead Announces Availability of the Durabook N14RA: The Notebook For The Real World
  10 September 2005



• World Data Products Brings Refurbishment To The UK, Opening Door For A Credible
  22 August 2005