Aussies spend less buying online than others, but we're ahead on online banking use

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 08:25

IT Industry - Deals

The TNS study found that four in five (78%) of those who bought a PC online, stated that the internet played a ‘crucial’ or ‘important’ role in the buying process.  The internet also plays a crucial or important role for a range of other categories, such as travel (86%), mobile phones (66%), TV/ DVD/ Stereo (66%), fridge/ washing machine (66%), and cars (62%).

Pritchard says Australians are relying heavily on the internet to research products before buying them and, according to his analysis, the main reason for those of us who don’t buy goods or services from the internet is the desire to see the product in person first.

“However, only one in three people are very confident in the security of their personal information when carrying out transactions or communications online, and until web retailers provide greater guidelines around return policies, guarantees, etc. these concerns aren’t going to go away.”

 Pritchard also said that online grocery purchases, for example, were not yet being embraced by Australians, but in countries such as China, Korea, Japan, 20-30% of the population had bought their groceries online in the month prior to the study.

“What is interesting, however, is the fact that Australia sits above the global average for regular online banking use – 79% of those surveyed had banked online in the four weeks prior,” Pritchard concluded.