Dec
More Australians shopping online this Christmas
Men and those under 45 prefer to do their Christmas shopping online
The number of people expected to shop online for Christmas presents is expected to increase significantly this year.
New research from Visa indicates 16 percent of people plan to do some online shopping this Christmas and people are planning to give more this year then they did last year.
“Typically around 10 percent of Visa cardholders regularly shop online and while this figure has been steadily rising the sharp increase this Christmas is surprising,” said Visa International Executive Vice President Australia & New Zealand , Mr. Bruce Mansfield.
Men and those under 45 are most likely to be doing at least some of their Christmas shopping this year online according to the Visa survey. Around 41 percent of respondents under 45 and 19 percent of males who participated in the survey said they plan on doing at least some of this year’s Christmas shopping over the internet.
“The popularity of online shopping among younger people is certainly consistent with trends we are noticing among Australians who are adopting less traditional and more flexible payment methods such as debit and prepaid cards,” said Mr. Mansfield.
“Debit and prepaid cards are being readily adopted by a broad range of Australians comfortable with using their own money or paying before shopping on the internet.”
Ease and convenience are the main reasons survey respondents give for preferring to shop online during the busy Christmas season. Fifty seven percent of men and 58 percent of people aged between 30 and 44 said this was the main reason for doing at least some of their Christmas shopping online.
Twenty eight percent of people over 60 said that buying for people overseas was the main reason for turning to their computer for their Christmas shopping this year.
The quest for better prices is more of a driving force for women and those in their late teens and twenties according to the survey. Thirty one percent of women compared to just 16 percent of men said that the search for better prices was the main reason for shopping online.
Just over half (54 percent) of respondents shopping online will pay for their purchases using a Visa card.
