Travel trails clothes in Asian online shopping
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Singapore, 3 November 2009 - To keep up with the latest looks and trends, fashion lovers across Asia Pacific are expanding their wardrobes with outfits from overseas online malls and boutiques, according to the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor.
Among the 2,380 respondents across the region polled for the survey, the most popular online purchases on overseas websites in the past 12 months were clothes/shoes (12 percent), followed by airline tickets and travel accommodation (10 percent respectively). Clothes/shoes (53 percent) were also the most popular local and overseas online shopping category overall.
Mohamad Hafidz, regional head, e-commerce, Asia Pacific, Visa, said: “It has been predicted that consumer e-commerce sales in Asia Pacific will reach US$168.7 billion by 20112. As online shopping carts continue to be filled with the season’s latest lines, Visa is working to promote a safe online payment environment by securing all points in the electronic payment process - from payment terminals at merchants to online checkouts.”
From exclusive deals to budget steals, respondents said they are getting their shopping fix from overseas websites because products and services were not available on local websites (46 percent), it was cheaper for them to purchase from overseas websites (25 percent), and because overseas websites have a wider selection of products/services (11 percent).
In the 12 months ending March 2009, respondents reported spending US$1,097 on overseas websites, which represented almost one-third (30 percent) of the average consumer ecommerce spending of US$3,743 in Asia Pacific. Overall, the region’s top spenders on online overseas purchases were from Singapore (US$1,892), Japan (US$1,827) and India (US$887).
For the majority of respondents, the main overseas online shopping destination was the US, with respondents from Singapore (61 percent), Australia (53 percent), India (43 percent), Japan (16 percent) and Korea (15 percent) saying most of their international online purchase were from websites located in the US.
Among the respondents, while both sexes tend to shop online (women 89 percent; men respondents 86 percent), women were more likely to buy clothes/shoes online (61 percent for women, 46 percent for men).
Top 5 online shopping categories in the past 12 months
Local and overseas websites % Overseas websites only %
Clothes/shoes 53 Clothes/shoes 12
Books 50 Airlines/airline tickets 10
Music (downloads) 49 Travel accommodation 10
Travel accommodation 46 Online auction 9
Airline/airline tickets 42 Books 9
Source: Visa e-Consumer Consumer Monitor
Top three most popular overseas websites online shopping destinations
Australia: US (53 percent) Hong Kong (19 percent) China (16 percent)
India: US (43 percent) Singapore (14 percent) China (12 percent)
Japan: US (16 percent) China (4 percent) Hong Kong/Taiwan (3 percent) Korea: US (15 percent) Japan (8 percent) China (3 percent)
China: Hong Kong (34 percent) Taiwan (19 percent) Japan (16 percent) Singapore: US (61 percent) Hong Kong (29 percent) Taiwan (22 percent)
Source: Visa e-Consumer Consumer Monitor
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About Visa:
Visa operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world’s largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 200 countries and territories.
About Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor:
The Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor tracks quarterly online spending trends of internet consumers in six key countries and territories in Asia Pacific. The Monitor also asks respondents about drivers and barriers to spending online, and their future intention to make purchases on the internet. The findings from this Monitor offer important insights into consumer online spending behaviour and are part of Visa’s commitment to providing information that help economies grow. The data covers the period from Q2 2008 through Q1 2009.
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