Shopping online Internet retailer
AMAZON. COM on Wednesday released a rare and revealing peek at its customers’
shopping habits, taken from a September e-mail poll of 2,072 customers of its
French, German and United kingdom sites. The company said the
research was done in the name of improving customer service. "We have to learn
from the nuances and idiosyncrasies of each nation’s shopping habits to see how
we can serve our customers better this Christmas, "said Robin Terrell, managing
director of Amazon. co. uk. The findings paint a unique picture
of the shopping habits of the world’s largest online retailer, plus their
motivation and preferences. For instance, the round-the-clock
convenience of e-commerce ranked above price as the prime motivating factor for
online shoppers, the company said. And more purchases are made
from home than work. According to the poll results, 31 percent of shoppers plunk
down their credit card during work hours, against 67 percent at home or in a
home office. The notable exception is Ireland, where 46 percent
of shoppers polled do so while at their office desk. The British are the second
worst offenders, with 40 percent admitting to on-the-job shopping, while the
Danes are the most honorable, with one in five making a purchase while on the
job. At 53 percent, the majority of Europeans shop in the
evenings at home. Austrians and Germans are the most avid night owl shoppers,
with 63 percent and 62 percent, respectively, reporting this habit. The Germans,
though, are the least likely group to shop online after 10 p. m., the study
said. Other findings include: the French and British are most
active shoppers with three in 10 visiting e-commerce sites more than 10 times
per month; and the Irish have the greatest concentration of shopaholics—one in
ten hit the cyber—shops more than 20 times a month, twice the European
average. In contrast, just 1 percent of Italians polled shop
online more than 20 times per month. The least active group are
the Dutch, with 25 percent reporting they shop online once a month or less. But
among the senior set, Dutch "silver surfers"—Internet users above the age of
50—shop online 20 percent of the time, Amazon said. The French,
meanwhile, like to get an early and late crack at online shopping with 18
percent logging on after 10 p.m. and 11 before 10 a. m., the company
said. And what about the Swedes According to the survey, the
Swedes are most likely among those polled to buy something they hadn’t planned
on purchasing. What, according to this passage, is the prime motivating factor for online shoppers