#7 - On-Line Shopping

Internet User Increase since 1990

I think the above graph from the Australian Bureau of Statistics speaks volumes about the use of the internet over time, but also the accessibility and affordibility over time as well. It can be said that information technology is becoming an increasingly important part of the way we work, communicate, learn, be entertained and how we conduct ourselves financially. The following points aim to convey an overall snap-shot of the demographics that use the interent and where they access it from:

• 31% of people 65 years and over.
• 74% of people 15 years and over.
• 68% access from home.
• 35% access from the workplace (made up of 25-44yr olds).
• 84% of people aged 15-17yrs accessed from an educational institution.

I found the rates of household internet access across each state very interesting as well, as it shows the increase in interent access by state since 1998 to present.

In 2009, the domestic online retail sales for all sectors of the economy were estimated to have totalled between $19 and $24 billion. The most popular online purchases as of 2009 (as seen in the graph below) were travel goods, followed closely by entertainment events, concerts and movie tickets. The main reasons for making online purchases were; convenience, lower prices and wider availability of products. So the questions now remains, what physically shop?

I didn't find it surprising that men were more likely to make online purchases than women, as it is pretty widely known that the majority of men don't enjoy shopping as much as women. Perhaps this is an area if further investigation as to why do women shop? and why do they prefer to shop physically than virtually?