5 out of 22 million Spanish internet users already shop online
Purchases made by internet users in Spain grew by 29,6 percent in 2006 compared to the previous year, reaching a turnover of 2.778 million euros, compared to 635 million the previous year.
Domingo Laborda, director of the Telecommunications Observatory of red.es, an entity dependent on the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, presented today the study on B2C Electronic Commerce-2007 and pointed out that of the 22 million internet users in Spain, 5 million already buy online.
This figure represents 13,6 percent of the population aged fifteen and over, which is an increase of 8,8 percent compared to the previous year, "B2C (consumer e-commerce) is growing very fast," said the director.
Online shopping accounts for 0,97 percent of total household spending, and it is estimated that the average annual spending of Spaniards is 523 euros, 5,7 percent more than in 2005, which they spend on 4,7 purchases per year.
Laborda pointed out that it is not a "very high" percentage within each person's spending, but compared to other years it is "a lot".
With regard to other European countries, Laborda indicated that in Spain there is a lot of "dispersion" in the indicators; some show very advanced data, such as broadband; but others, such as e-commerce, show that "we are further behind."
According to the study, the most in-demand products are, for the most part, transport tickets (36,5 percent), followed by tickets for shows (16,9 percent), books (13,9 percent), accommodation bookings (12,4 percent) and clothing and accessories (10,1 percent).
"On the Internet, you buy certain goods at certain prices; you buy everything that is not open to interpretation and that will not give surprises," explained the director of the Observatory.
The profile of the buyers, as the report concludes, indicates that more than half are men, that most live in cities, that they have a medium-to-high purchasing power, and that they have studies superiors
Of the 17 million internet users who do not buy online, Laborda explained that most will turn to the internet when transactions are safer and, to a lesser extent, when they cannot find another place to buy a specific product.
Among shoppers, convenience (51,2 percent) and price and promotions (42,4 percent) stand out as the main reasons for starting to shop online.
Regarding the forecasts, Laborda said that "we are very hopeful that next year the curve will continue to rise."
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