• Women outspend men in online shopping: Study

    Women are scripting the success story of e-tailers in the country. They are not only outspending men while shopping online, they are also proving to be more aggressive internet-and tech-savvy gender, when it comes to buying things through their smartphones.

    Women are more likely to use plastic money, mobile apps and online travel portals, a study by American Express and Nielsen said. They are more active on the internet (47 hours spent per week on non-work related activities) compared to men (28 hours spent per week on non-work-related activities). And when it comes to mobile apps, there is a near universal adoption among them (98%) compared to a lower penetration among men (81%).

    While 74% women said they prefer using plastic money while shopping online, around 69% of men said they would rather play safe and opt for the cash-on-delivery (COD) route, revealed the report (target average age group of 33 years and average yearly income of Rs 14.8 lakh and access to the internet for a minimum of five hours a week).

    Interestingly, around 98% of respondents, both men and women, said they access the internet for online shopping, while 96% said they do it for social networking, followed by banking (95%), booking tickets (95%) and e-mails (95%). Plastic money is the most popular mode of payment in metros (71%), while COD has higher usage in Tier 1cities (72%), the survey said.

    Shopping has always been the favourite pastime for India and now it has become the “virtual pastime,” said Manoj Adlakha, VP & GM — consumer & merchant services and CEO, American Express Banking.

    Discounts, convenience, freedom to compare prices and cash payment are some of the compelling reasons driving people here to shop online. Around 70% of heavy internet users said they prefer shopping online due to discounts.

    However, the equation changes dramatically keeping in line with the marital status of shoppers. Around 69% of unmarried buyers said discount days are reason they shop online while 58% of married buyers said they do the same. When it comes to dividing resources between online and offline shopping, singles keep 63% of their budget for online shopping, while married couples tend to keep around 57%. 

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