Online Shopping Now Mainstream

31 May 2007

Online Shopping Now Mainstream

NZ Shows continuous strong trend – 61% of adult New Zealanders purchase online each month.

Auckland, 31 May 2007 - Nielsen//NetRatings today released information from its monthly Online Retail Monitor for the New Zealand market. The report confirms that online shopping has gone mainstream and reveals a continuous strong trend and a very high satisfaction level in online purchasing.

While 94% of adult New Zealand internet users researched goods or services via the internet, 61% made a purchase online in the month of March 2007, which is also the average over the period December ’06 to March ‘07.

Tony Boyte, Senior Analyst for Nielsen//NetRatings, said: “The initial data we gathered was for December 2006, and we wondered if the figures for the number of people purchasing online was very high due to Christmas shopping. Now we have confirmation that New Zealanders really do like to shop online as a general rule-of-thumb. Over the last four months, on average 61% of internet users have been purchasing online each month, and that is very high by anyone’s standards, given New Zealand’s very high internet penetration.”

While a startling 93% of the people who purchased online in March 2007 said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their online shopping experience, the research found that security issues are still a concern for some of the 33% of New Zealand internet users who do not go through to make the final purchase online.

Upon asking why these people were reluctant to make a purchase online after researching the items, the Online Retail Monitor reports that credit card fraud was the number one concern. This was followed by identity theft and then concerns about receiving spam emails after passing on contact details. Boyte went on to say, “The research clearly shows that most New Zealanders feel very secure about making a purchase online, and this security helps to add satisfaction to the whole user experience. However, for some people, security issues remain a concern. Convincing this group that the online environment is a secure place to make transactions presents a challenge for retailers. The majority of New Zealand internet users really like to shop online. Easing the security concerns for the remaining few could lead to universal online shopping for all those with access to the web.”

Editor’s Note: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings. This continuous monthly national study is based on an email invite survey with a 750 plus sample size.

About Nielsen//NetRatings

Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for internet audience measurement and analysis and is the industry’s premier source for online advertising intelligence with its SiteCensus, Market Intelligence, AdIntelligence and Custom Research services. Covering 70 percent of the world’s internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.co.nz.

ENDS

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