Ease of online purchasing driving confidence in e-commerce

Auckland, New Zealand – 13 June 2017 – Almost one in ten Kiwis are regularly embracing the convenience of shopping online, according to new Mastercard research.

The Mastercard survey of over 1,000 New Zealanders found the majority of New Zealanders use the internet to shop online, with 87% saying they have made at least one purchase in the past three months. This is up 12% from just two years ago (80% in 2015 and 75% in 2014).

Top items to purchase online include airfares (62%), books, music and other media (50%), and hotels (48%).

“New Zealanders see online shopping as convenient and easy, and most people tend to get to know and trust their favourite online retailers. Increasingly we are seeing businesses use the e-commerce environment to provide customers with a great customer experience, fostering trust and loyalty,” says Peter Chisnall, Country Manager for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

77% of people say it is convenient to shop online and 76% will repeat shop with online retailers they have used before.

When asked about the most important factors impacting online shopping, 89% of consumers look for a secure payment facility option, followed by convenient payment methods (86%) and price (84%).

“The survey has revealed that although getting the best price is a key factor for Kiwis, safety and security is the most important consideration. We recommend customers take simple safety precautions when shopping online by using trusted retailers and monitoring their account in case any suspicious activity occurs. In addition, customers can look out for Masterpass at the checkout, our cloud-based wallet where their payment and delivery information is stored securely,” says Chisnall.

People who said they have not purchased anything online in the past three months said they prefer to look at the physical product (49%) or cannot find anything they want to buy online (41%). Only 6% did not think online shopping was cost effective, down 13% points since the last survey.

“In terms of physical products, people still appreciate checking out goods out in person. However, as we can see from the survey, the convenience of online retailers is particularly valued for services like booking flights or securing tickets to a concert,” says Chisnall.

In terms of improving online shopping, Kiwis would most like to see free or minimal delivery charges (74%), no additional service charges (48%) and assurance of the security of transactions (41%).

Most customers rely on close friends and family (44%), followed by traditional media (24%) to help them decide whether to shop at a new store online.

ENDS

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