MARK KIRSCHNER, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, GLOBAL MARKETING, RAKUTEN
Brits, Americans and Germans beat the Monday blues with e-tail therapy with the US, UK and Germany clocking their highest browsing figures on Mondays. In France, where young schoolgoers only attend classes four days a week, data shows that online shopping peaks on Wednesdays when parents often stay home to look after their children. In Brazil, where domestic broadband penetration is relatively low, online shoppers are most likely to splash the cash online when they are at work. However, far from shirking work responsibilities in order to make purchases, they typically use a lunch break to shop, with activity peaking between midday and 2pm.
These are just a few of the insights into national shopping and browsing habits mined from traffic and sales through Rakuten’s global online marketplaces: Play.com (UK) ; Buy.com (US); Rakuten Deutschland (Germany); Priceminister (France) and Rakuten Brazil.
In both the US and UK, peak time for mobile browsing occurs in the morning, although earlier in the UK. Perhaps reflecting the greater usage of public transport in the UK, which affords greater opportunity for browsing, mobile browsing surges between 7-8am, when many workers are mid- commute. In the US, the morning peak in browsing occurs at around 10am. Conversely, in France shoppers are most likely to use a mobile device to shop between 6-7pm.
During their online and mobile shopping experiences, consumers are spending more time browsing categories that tend to have a higher price tag. US consumers are far more considered when selecting computers, electronics, clothing and bags with an average viewing time of 4.4 to 4.7 minutes before purchasing. This compares with around 3 minutes for lower priced items.
Browser dwell times indicate that fashion and literature are Brits’ online impulse purchase items of choice, with the average user dwelling just over 40 seconds on clothes before purchase and under a minute on books, compared to considered purchases such as TVs which have an average dwell time of around 2 minutes. One interesting anomaly is evident in Brazil, where relatively high-value mobile phones typically see very low dwell times, suggesting consumers have already researched products online and then will make a purchase based solely on price.
