Visa Survey Highlights Online Shopping Trends in Asia

To keep up with the latest looks and trends, fashion lovers across Asia Pacific are expanding their wardrobes with outfits from overseas online malls and boutiques, according to the Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor.

Among the 2,380 respondents across the region polled for the survey, the most popular online purchases on overseas websites in the past 12 months were clothes/shoes (12%), followed by airline tickets and travel accommodation (10%). Clothes/shoes (53%) were also the most popular local and overseas online shopping category overall.

Mohamad Hafidz, regional head, e-commerce, Asia Pacific, Visa, said, “It has been predicted that consumer e-commerce sales in Asia Pacific will reach US$168.7 billion by 20112. As online shopping carts continue to be filled with the season’s latest lines, Visa is working to promote a safe online payment environment by securing all points in the electronic payment process - from payment terminals at merchants to online checkouts.”

From exclusive deals to budget steals, respondents said they are getting their shopping fix from overseas websites because products and services were not available on local websites (46%), it was cheaper for them to purchase from overseas websites (25%), and because overseas websites have a wider selection of products/services (11%).

In the 12 months ending March 2009, respondents reported spending US$1,097 on overseas websites, which represented almost one-third (30%) of the average consumer ecommerce spending of US$3,743 in Asia Pacific. Overall, the region’s top spenders on online overseas purchases were from Singapore (US$1,892), Japan (US$1,827) and India (US$887).

For the majority of respondents, the main overseas online shopping destination was the US, with respondents from Singapore (61%), Australia (53%), India (43%), Japan (16%) and Korea (15%) saying most of their international online purchase were from websites located in the US.

Among the respondents, while both sexes tend to shop online (women 89%; men respondents 86%), women were more likely to buy clothes/shoes online (61% for women, 46% for men).

Visa e-Commerce Consumer Monitor Q1 2009

From January to March 2009, Ipsos conducted 2,380 online interviews on behalf of Visa with internet users (those who access the internet at least once a week) aged 18 to 49 years from six countries and territories (China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia and India) in an effort to measure their online usage behaviors.

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