Bangkok--2 Feb--124 Communications
Two in Three Consumers in Thailand Looking to Shop Online: MasterCard SurveyConsumers in Thailand are Most Likely to Shop Via Mobile Internet
The latest survey on online shopping habits by MasterCard Worldwide revealed that 67% of Thai respondents access the internet for online shopping, slightly higher than the average across the 15 markets[1] surveyed (61%). The findings also revealed that women and consumers aged between 25 - 34 years old are more likely to shop online than their counterparts. Thai consumers topped the survey for mobile shopping with 34% of respondents purchasing items through their mobile phones during the past three months and 30% of the respondents looking to do so in the next six months.
This year MasterCard has released its first Index on Online Shopping. The index serves as a benchmark that measures consumers’ propensity to shop online. The survey was conducted from 3 September to 1 October 2010 and covered 8,500 respondents across 15 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the UAE. The survey and the accompanying Insights Report do not represent MasterCard financial performance.
“Online shopping, especially making purchases via mobile phones have become significantly more popular in Thailand. This shift in consumer behavior indicates that shoppers in Thailand have become more IT savvy and diversified, not only in what they buy, but how and where they make their purchases. It is also encouraging to see Thai consumers having more positive attitudes towards online shopping — with 92% of the respondents feeling that payment facilities are more secured," said Eileen Wee, vice president and senior country manager, Thailand, MasterCard Worldwide.
The top five items purchased online are airline tickets (33%), ladies clothing and accessories (32%), CDs/DVDs/VCDs (29%), hotel accommodation (27%) and cosmetics (25%). The top five mobile shopping items are health and fitness products (24%), ready to eat / home delivery meals (22%), movie/concert tickets (20%), phone application/software (19%) and cosmetics (17%)
It has been another big year for Thailand’s e-commerce industry, with increased availability of high speed internet connections. The increase in online shopping was driven by key factors including, site offers secure payment facility (92%), convenient payment methods (89%), price/value of the items (86%), good exchange or return policy (85%), speed of transaction (85%) and website being user-friendly (84%)
Among APMEA markets, Korea scored the highest accessing rate for online shopping (85%) followed by China (84%), Japan (75%, India (67%) and Thailand (67%). For mobile shopping during the past three months, consumers in Thailand are most likely to shop via mobile Internet (34%) followed by Indonesia (29%), India (28%), China (23%) and South Korea (19%).
Amongst the total respondents, 500 consumers surveyed were Thais between the ages of 18 and 64 years with personal bank accounts and who accessed the internet at least once a week.
Other highlights for Thailand:
67% of the Thai respondents tend to browse online but would only purchase online occasionally, 22% tend to browse and then purchase online, 8% tend to browse online but would only make the purchase through offline channels and 3% tend to browse and purchase through offline channels only.
Top factors that trigger impulse online shopping included low price/substantial discount on pries compared to offline channels (67%), advertisements and promotions (56%), unique products only available online (52%), items available online faster than in any of the stores in their cities (38%) and just felt like buying in general when browsing online (29%)
Top five items that trigger impulse shopping are CDs/DVDs/VCDs (40%), Airline tickets (39%), personal care and beauty (36%), hotel accommodation (35%) and cosmetics (33%)
Top five most visited category websites include music download e.g. iTunes (51%), cinemas (50%), retailers for clothing and accessories (45%), books/CDs/DVDs (44%) and restaurants/home delivery of meals (38%)
*Accessing the Internet for Online Shopping
Market 2010 2009 2008
South Korea 85% 87% 80%
China 84% 80% 82%
Japan 75% 74% 84%
India 67% 72% 54%
Thailand 67% 63% 43%
Taiwan 66% 66% -
Singapore 64% 56% 54%
New Zealand 59% 63% -
Australia 58% 63% 66%
Malaysia 55% 33% -
South Africa 51% 42% 50%
Hong Kong 49% 47% 45%
Indonesia 44% - -
U.A.E. 42% 29% 34%
Philippines 27% 30% -
Total 61% 60% 59%
* State of Mobile Shopping
Market Last 3 months Next 6 months
Thailand 34% 30%
Indonesia 29% 16%
India 28% 32%
China 23% 33%
South Korea 19% 25%
Taiwan 16% 19%
Hong Kong 15% 16%
Malaysia 15% 22%
U.A.E. 12% 25%
Singapore 12% 20%
Japan 11% 4%
South Africa 11% 13%
Philippines 7% 20%
Australia 6% 4%
New Zealand 5% 4%
NOTE TO EDITORS: More information and previously released MasterCard survey results can be found at www.masterintelligence.com
MasterCard and its Suite of Research Properties
MasterCard puts out a series of ongoing consumer surveys and research Indices in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. These include the MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence and MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement.
Besides these, MasterCard also regularly releases its Insights reports; the series in part of its ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Over 70 Insights reports have been produced since 2004. MasterCard has also released a series of four books on Asian consumer insights, authored by its Asia/Pacific economist, Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong and published by John Wiley & Sons.
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2009, $2.5 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network — the fastest payment processing network in the world — MasterCard processes over 22 billion transactions each year, has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass? and MasterCard inControl?. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.
Contact: 124 Communications Consulting, 0 2718 1886
Elizabeth Wongwasin,
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Eakkapop Phanturat,
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