Kiwi Shopping Habits defended

Media release

Newmarket Business Association

Monday, 11 April 2011

Kiwi Shopping Habits defended

Newmarket Business Association head, Ashley Church, has lauded the results of a Fly Buys survey which shows that most kiwis still prefer shopping in-store rather than making purchases online.

The Survey, which was prompted by concerns that consumers were researching products in-store then buying them online, found that these fears were unfounded. It discovered that 73% of kiwis do research in-store - but that the same number also purchase there. Conversely, half of shoppers used the internet to research products and 52% of those buy the item in-store.

The survey found that only one in 10 consumers bought solely online, while 18% bought online and in-store equally.

While some commentators have expressed surprise at the low level of online purchasing revealed by the survey - Church says the results say a lot about the New Zealand shopping culture.

"Kiwis are innately pragmatic people who see the internet as simply another part of the overall shopping experience. We like the convenience of the net for 'simple' purchases - but we also recognise that it has its limitations".

He cites immediacy, safety, personal service and 'the experience' of in-store shopping as reasons why people will be in no hurry to replace it with the net anytime soon.

"For example - we might buy an older CD, DVD or book title online - because these purchases are 'uncomplicated' and we know what we're getting - but even with these types of products, we'll still go in-store to buy a new release because we want it 'now'".

Church also says that he disagrees with recent comments from British born James McComb, online communications manager for appliance retailer Noel Leeming. Mr McComb said that "The natural thing to do in the UK is to search, find, click, buy and have it delivered. New Zealand just hasn't caught on to that yet."

But Church said he suspected that this had a lot more to do with British weather than any edge that British shoppers had over kiwi shoppers.

"New Zealanders are the fastest and most enthusiastic adopters of new technology in the world - and new social trends catch on much more quickly, here, than they do in Europe - so if kiwis aren't jumping into online purchasing in the same numbers as brits you can be sure that there's a very good reason for it".

Ends

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