Eight in Ten Respondents in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa are Satisfied with Online Shopping: MasterCard Survey
The majority of the online shoppers across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa are satisfied with online shopping, according to the latest survey on online shopping habits by MasterCard Worldwide. India, Thailand and New Zealand are leading the curve with more than 90% of the online shoppers feeling satisfied. The Greater China region as well as South Korea scored the lowest between 62% and 65% in terms of satisfaction levels amongst online shoppers. Secure payment facilities, convenient payment methods and price and value of the items are the top three most important factors influencing respondents’ online shopping experience.
This is the third survey on online shopping habits conducted by MasterCard. It covered 8000 respondents across 14 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and UAE, with Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines and Taiwan being new markets included in 2009. The inaugural survey was conducted in December 2007. The survey does not represent MasterCard financial performance.
More online shoppers in general agreed that it is more convenient and easier to shop online as compared to last year. The most frequent online purchases were conducted through websites of retailers selling home appliances, books & arts, airline, ladies’ clothing and accessories, with each of these categories registering between 36%-38% of the respondents saying they often shop from these sites. Respondents overall are becoming more comfortable with shopping on the Internet, and there seems to be a greater ease with using the medium, with 74% of respondents having stated that it has become easy to shop online in 2009 versus 68% in 2008, whilst 78% of respondents stated that it is convenient to shop online in 2009 versus 50% in 2008.
Online shopping has become essential to more than half of the respondents from China, Korea, Japan, India and Thailand. There is an increase in shopping online for groceries from 20 % to 27% of the respondents since last year, with the shift being significant in China with the number of people shopping for groceries online increasing from 32% to 58%. Additionally, 94% of respondents from China indicated that browsing online has led to an online purchase at least a couple of times. Satisfaction rates have risen as well over the past year, especially in India (87% versus 94%) and Thailand (86% versus 93%).
“Online shopping has come a long way and today the latest MasterCard survey reflects this change. As online shoppers become more savvy and are increasingly satisfied with their online shopping experience, they are purchasing beyond lifestyle items such as airline tickets, online games and music downloads and have evolved to buying basic necessities including home appliances and groceries. This new class of shoppers will continue to embrace the convenience, ease and variety offered by online shopping," said Garth Viegas, senior business leader, Intelligence & Planning, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.
Other key highlights from the survey include:
- 43% of respondents tend to browse online but would only purchase online occasionally, 34% of respondents browse and then proceed to purchase online and 18% of respondents reported that they browse online but would only make the purchase through offline channels. The incidence of people browsing and then purchasing online has increased in most countries as compared to 2008, but is most pronounced in China, Thailand & India.
- Most people (84%) do plan ahead when it comes to making purchases online. This is particularly true in Australia, Japan and New Zealand, with about 9 in 10 respondents claiming they would plan before purchasing an item online.
- Japan, specifically, has seen the most significant increase (84% to 94%) in the number of people claiming that they would do advanced planning prior to purchasing online.
- High tendencies of impulse shopping triggers were observed in India for home appliances (52%) and CDs/DVDs (53%), in China for books/arts (52%) and groceries (51%) and Thailand for ladies’ clothing/accessories (55%) and South Africa for CDs/DVDs (50%).
- Top reasons for visiting merchant websites include checking the latest information on products (79%), checking promotional deals (62%) and the intention to make a booking/purchase (60%).
NOTE TO EDITORS: This news release is distributed with the following:
- More information on the survey can be found at the website www.masterintelligence.com
- A you-tube video comprising further insights from Garth Viegas, senior business leader, Intelligence & Planning, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide can be accessed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA-uRUflbkA
MasterCard and its Suite of Research Properties
The MasterCard Worldwide Index suite of research products in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa includes the flagship MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, and the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience, both of which are released six monthly, and MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement, which is released annually.
Besides these, MasterCard has released the annual survey on consumers’ online shopping habits since December 2007 and this is the third survey conducted by MasterCard. MasterCard also regularly releases Insights reports; the series represents in part its ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Over 70 Insights reports have been produced since 2004. MasterCard has also released a series of four books on Asian consumer insights, authored by its Asia/Pacific economist, Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong and published by John Wiley & Sons.
The MasterCard Indexes and Insights reports are available at www.masterintelligence.com
About MasterCard Worldwide
MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 22 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter:@mastercardnews.
