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All signs point to online this Christmas
[Tue 06/12/2011 10:32:54]
If bricks and mortar retailers needed any more reason to add an online arm to their business they only need look at new survey results, which reveal up to half of Australian consumers will do some or all of their Christmas shopping online this year.
A report commissioned by Progressive Online Car Insurance shows nine million Australians will head to the internet to research presents, while 48 per cent will go on to purchase some or all of their gifts.
This trend is being spearheaded by 18-34 year olds with the survey revealing 72 per cent are browsing and 61 per cent buying online and slightly more males (45 per cent) than females (40 per cent) will use the internet to shop.
Factors pushing consumers toward online as indicated by the results include greater choice, convenience, avoiding other shoppers, flexible shopping times and better prices.
“These numbers indicate that Australians are growing in confidence and savviness when it comes to buying goods and services online,” says Simon Lindsay, managing director of Progressive.
“There is a new type of shopper out there, the ‘savvy-solutionary’ who knows that the ‘cyber mall’ offers many more benefits than traditional retailers. We’re seeing this same sort of shopper embracing our lower cost online only car insurance proposition.
“Our report is a seasonal warning shot to traditional retailers. If they want the Christmas customer then retailers need to better incentivise shoppers in order to get them to turn up in person and be ready to spend. This means valuing their time and putting customer service higher up the agenda.”
This comes as online retailer RedBalloon, which offers experiential gifts, reveals its own survey shows 36 per cent of shoppers will do most of their Christmas shopping online this year.
More than 2,000 people were surveyed and outlined crowded shopping centres, traffic congestion and avoiding parking struggles as the reasons to use the internet to purchase their gifts.
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