The majority of French online shoppers plan to use the internet again for their purchases during the winter sales that started today although they will spend slightly less than last year, the national e-commerce association Fevad reported in its latest study.
The survey results have revealed that 68% of French e-buyers intend to research or make their winter sales purchases online (vs. 69% in 2015), which corresponds to nearly 25 million people. The overall percentage of those e-shoppers who will make their purchases online is estimated to 59% (vs. over 60% in 2015). In gender terms, women are more likely than men to shop online for bargains during the six-week period (63% vs. 54%).
As for the budget to be spent online on the winter sales, 65% of the respondents indicated it would be the same as last year. Only 13% are considering spending more than in 2015 while 22% plan to reduce their budget. The average budget is expected to fall by €4 from €188 in 2015 to €184 this year. Compared to the budget in 2014, this means that the French e-shoppers are likely to spend on average over €20 less on their winter sales purchases online than two years ago (€184 vs. €207 in 2014).
Similarly to last year, the best-selling product group during the winter sales remains clothes, accessories and shoes with 83% of the respondents saying they would look for bargains in this category. Among women, this figure is even higher with 88%. The second most popular product group includes brown or white products (30%), which are, in turn, bought more often by men than women (39% vs. 23%).
In terms of shopping devices, the vast majority (79%) of French online shoppers prefer to make their winter sales purchases via a computer (vs. 75% in 2015). However, the use of new technologies has considerably increased, with 37% of e-buyers saying they will research or make their purchases online via a tablet, which equals a year-on-year increase of 3%. 38% of online shoppers plan to use their smartphone for this purpose, which is an 8% increase in one year. Among people aged 18-24 and 25-34, the figure is even higher with 53% and 54% respectively.
The survey further revealed that 58% of French e-shoppers prefer the internet to make their winter sales purchases to profit from lower prices. This figure is particularly high among young people aged 18-24 with 71%. The second most important factor cited by the majority (54%) of the respondents was saving time / staying at home while avoiding crowded stores was considered important by 51% of the e-shoppers surveyed.
