Analyst research finds rising levels of online spend for retail goods in Western Europe
Analyst research finds rising levels of online spend for retail goods in Western Europe
New findings of research looking at trends in European consumer behaviour when buying goods and services online has found increasing use of mobile commerce by consumers in the Western European region.
Cloud optimisation services provider Akamai Technologies International commissioned independent analyst firm IDC to conduct the IDC Retail Insights Consumer Survey in May 2010, which comprised of interviews with 1, 500 consumers in six European countries (France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden) and was released yesterday.
The findings included the fact that the majority of consumers expect a website to load in less than four seconds, and in some cases two seconds, otherwise (around 70%) will switch to another, probably competitive, website.
Other key findings included an increase in online spending among 30% of respondents. Spain emerged as the fastest growing e-commerce market in Europe, where 44% of consumers reported a willingness to spend more online.
Nearly two thirds (62%) of respondents purchased clothes and footwear online, making this the largest category of spend in the survey (followed by more ‘traditional’ online items such as books and magazines (59%), with online travel accounting at 47% of spend).
The group of highest spenders online in Europe (each spending around €1, 500 or £1,313 per year) tended to be aged between 35 to 54 years.
Mobile shopping on the rise
Nearly 30% of respondents were using, or planned to use, mobile devices for some kind of e-commerce. Within this group the research identified a 10% core of respondents already using their mobile/smart phones for retail search, price comparison or online purchasing. In addition, another 20% of respondents were planning to do this in the future, which meant a full third of respondents would be using the mobile channel in the short-term for e-commerce.
Meanwhile, on average multichannel shoppers spend 15-30% more than someone who only uses one channel.
Martin Haering, international marketing vice president at Akamai, commented: “These findings show that consumers in Europe are pushing the edges of e-commerce, demanding greater performance from their online shopping experience. With increasing numbers of shoppers going online with mobile devices, it is important for retailers to get their mobile e-commerce strategies right the first time and the need for security, website performance, scalability and availability has never been more important to underpin success in the online marketplace.”
Ivano Ortis, research director at IDC Retail Insights, who carried-out the research, added: “E-commerce sales keep growing – despite the recession online sales grew by over 20% in 2009 – and the market is rapidly diversifying. Categories of goods that were previously thought to be for instore shopping only are making remarkable inroads online – for example, apparel and footwear. Basket size is increasing, as is the level of services and support that customers are expecting from e-commerce websites.”
Akamai and IDC Retail Insights will share additional findings and discuss some key trends in a live webinar on Thursday 18 November, which is free to register and attend.
