COVID Drives Surge In Online Shopping; Kiwis Vote For Mighty Ape!

New research from Canstar reveals COVID’s massive influence on shopping habits, with half of us saying the pandemic has influenced us to spend more online.

The survey of 1644 people was carried out to find the winner of Canstar’s award for Most Satisfied Customers | Online Retailers. Mighty Ape won the crown for the fourth consecutive year.

The research showed 48% of respondents said the COVID pandemic meant they spent money stacking up on their digital shopping baskets, with that figure skewed heavily in favour of women. 44% of men said this was the case, while more than half of women were spending more in the digital environment.

Jose George, Canstar NZ General Manager, said, “The rise in online shopping is no surprise given the impact of the pandemic - what we'll be watching now is how online retailers respond and evolve. Mighty Ape’s repeated wins over the years, and through the pandemic, show how it has risen to the challenge so far.

“Being able to do this will define the future of so many businesses."

“COVID has represented some unique challenges,” said Gracie MacKinlay, Chief Sales and Marketing Gorilla at Mighty Ape. “Besides external disruptions from the supply chains and courier networks, there are also internal challenges.

“We share information across departments and help out to improve our service. For example, we had our sales team helping our customer support, marketing team helping out with our Jungle Express deliveries, design team picking orders in our warehouse. It’s heartwarming to see how closely we work together. We haven’t nailed everything, but we work hard to be better.”

The survey showed how much online shopping now dominates our experiences, with nearly 60% of us using international websites to purchase goods - spending more than $7 billion online, with the average online shopper spending 22% more over the year.

Around one in five of us aged under 50 do “nearly all” of our shopping online, with clothes the most popular item bought from a website. Among younger Kiwis, more than three quarters bought their wardrobe from online outlets. Health and beauty items and homewares were also popular, with nearly half of respondents saying they would purchase them online.

Of the Kiwis surveyed, 70% said the draw of online shopping was the convenience, while nearly 60% said they shopped online as it was easy to find what they were looking for. The experiences aren’t always perfect, however, with nearly 30% saying they bought something that didn’t look like the picture. The same percentage of respondents bought something that didn't show up, while 32% worried about the security of the payment systems.

The single biggest driver of satisfaction is speed of delivery, followed by value for money and ease of navigation through the website. Mighty Ape scored five stars in key areas including overall satisfaction, speed of delivery, and ease of navigation.

For further details please visit the Canstar NZ site, here.

CANSTAR provides Australia and New Zealand's only fully interactive online research service in retail and business finance. Founded in 1992, CANSTAR Pty Limited (formerly CANNEX) is Australia and New Zealand's premier researcher of retail finance information for over 250 institutions such as Banks, Building Societies, Credit Unions, Finance Companies, Brokers, Mortgage Originators, Life Companies and finance related Internet Portals. CANSTAR customers use the extensive database for competitor analysis as well as a means of disseminating their product range. CANSTAR also distributes this information to print and electronic media for publication and to Agents, Accountants, Brokers and Internet Portals for use in advising their clients.

CANSTAR researches, compares and rates a suite of banking products listed below. Results are freely available to consumers who use the star ratings as a guide to product excellence. The use of similar star ratings logos also builds consumer recognition of quality products across all categories. Please access the CANSTAR website at www.canstar.co.nz if you would like to view the latest star ratings reports of interest. © CANSTAR New Zealand Limited (3225469), 2008-2013. The recipient must not reproduce or transmit to third parties the whole or any part of this work, whether attributed to CANSTAR or not, unless with prior written permission from CANSTAR, which if provided, may be provided on conditions.

To the extent that any CANSTAR data, ratings or commentary constitutes general advice, this advice has been prepared by CANSTAR New Zealand Limited (3225469) FSP 200146 and does not take into account your individual investment objectives, financial circumstances or needs. Information provided does not constitute financial, taxation or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. CANSTAR recommends that, before you make any financial decision, you seek professional advice from a suitably qualified adviser. A Product Disclosure Statement relating to the product should also be obtained and considered before making any decision about whether to acquire the product. CANSTAR acknowledges that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

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