Purchasing goods and services on the Internet has tripled in New Zealand in the last nine years, according to Roy Morgan Research’s latest New Zealand State of the Nation.
The report reveals that nearly 65 percent of New Zealanders aged 14+ have used the Internet to make a purchase (compared to 56.3 percent of Australians), with 46.8 percent of the population buying something online in the last four weeks.
But what are New Zealanders buying online, exactly? Roy Morgan Research said the most popular by far are Entertainment & Leisure products ( DVDs, music, concert tickets), with 41.8 percent of Internet shoppers purchasing something from this category in an average four-week period.
Fashion products (24.9 percent) and electronic products (17.2 percent) are in second and third positions, with reading material (16.3 percent) a close fourth.
While pets and furniture were purchased by fewer people, their availability online speaks volumes for the diversity of what can be found — and bought — on the Internet.
Pip Elliott, General Manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ, said that the fact that these same four categories top the lists on both sides of the Tasman for Internet purchases suggests that traditional ‘bricks-and-mortar’ retailers in these areas need to provide an online alternative for their customers in order to maintain their competitive edge.