Online shopping growth driven by men

Men who can’t be bothered to go out shopping are helping to drive rapid growth in online retailing, according to a survey by the British Council of Shopping Centres.

FT.com reports that men have a ‘hunter’ approach to shopping – they know what they want and want to get it as quickly and painlessly as possible. Online shopping is the perfect way for them to do this.

According to the survey, people could save 30 hours this Christmas by shopping for presents online. While many British adults predict they will spend 40 hours doing their Christmas shopping in stores, the same tasks could be completed online in ten hours.

The survey revealed that men intend to do more and more of their shopping online in the future, as they find it far less stressful than a trip to their local high street.

According to the BCSC report, women don’t share this view: 

“Women were at the opposite spectrum compared with men when it came to their future intentions. They were certainly not planning to do more shopping online, nor did they think it was more convenient to shop online.”

The IMRG predicts a record online Christmas this year, with Britons expected to spend £7 billion. Overall UK online spending is predicted to reach £39 billion by 2010. It seems that a large portion of this growth could be due to men.

Further Reading
Online Retail User Experience Benchmarks 2006
Online Retail User Experience Benchmarks 2004

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