Online shopping habits “both good and bad news”, survey finds

Heather McIlvaine

20th Jun 2019

Online shoppers differ from in-store shoppers in several distinct ways, a new survey commissioned by CouriersPlease has revealed.

Though four out of five survey respondents said they tend to purchase items under $100 when shopping online, one in three said they tend to purchase more items when they shop online.

This is “both good and bad news” for e-retailers, CouriersPlease has noted.

“It is interesting that people have developed habits that are specific to online shopping, and are very distinct to their in-store shopping behaviours,” Jessica Ip, CouriersPlease spokesperson, said.

“The data reveals that traditional and online shopping have their place, with online shopping seemingly more popular when purchasing lower-cost products and multiple items in the one transaction, while the in-store shopping experience is still reserved for more premium, high-cost items.”

The survey, which asked 1000 Australian online shoppers how much they spend online compared with in-store purchases, whether they purchase cheaper items online, whether they have more control over their shopping spend online and if they spend more time researching products when shopping online, found that the average price point of items purchased online are $50-100 each.

Thirty-nine per cent say the average price point is $50 or less, while 94 per cent of shoppers will not purchase items online that cost more than $200 each.

However, online shopping tends to make a significant proportion of shoppers spend more – especially younger shoppers. Thirty-five per cent of shoppers say they buy more items from a retailer when they shop online versus in-store, while 26 per cent buy less online. The survey does not say what proportion of items are purchased with the intention of being returned. For instance, some consumers purchase multiple sizes of an item when shopping online.

The survey also found that two in three respondents do more product research when shopping online, and nearly a third spend more time comparing prices when shopping online.