By comparison, 25% of those surveyed said they planned to buy skin care and cosmetics; 29% planned to buy computer/game software; 30% entertainment tickets; 25% computer/game hardware; and 23% video/music. Approximately 20% said they planned to purchase electronic books and digital newspaper and magazine subscriptions, a new category added to the survey in 2012.
“While non-consumer packaged goods (C.P.G.) products such as clothing, books and consumer electronics report the highest penetration for digital shopping intentions, on-line influence for C.P.G. products is clearly growing,” said John Burbank, president of strategic initiatives at Nielsen. “Marketers need to determine which consumers are embracing digital for their grocery shopping needs so they can focus on the right shoppers with the right digital strategies to improve consumers’ on-line experience.”
Nielsen’s survey found 61% of global respondents indicated using the Internet for grocery shopping research in the past month, such as checking prices or reading a consumer review. Forty-five per cent used the Internet to get information about a grocery product, 43% searched for deals, 33% read a grocery retailer’s promotional circular/flyer, 33% looked for coupons, 26% browsed a manufacturer web site, 18% provided feedback through social media and 11% used a digital shopping list.
“On-line shopping delivers key attributes shoppers demand, such as convenience, value and choice,” Mr. Burbank said. “However, the Internet and more specifically e-commerce, will be successful to varying degrees of impact on consumer packaged goods depending on the product category. For these C.P.G. categories, shoppers are more likely to adopt a multi-channel approach, where online shopping becomes a supplement to traditional brick-and-mortar retailing.”
The Nielsen Global Survey of Digital’s Influence on Grocery Shopping was conducted Feb. 10–27, 2012, and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.
