Advertisement
Promo

Online business Toolkit

Men have a grand time shopping online

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 07 Nov 2003 12:10 GMT

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly
  • Post Comment

Five percent of men have spent in excess of £5,000 on a single online-shopping session, according to research that claims to expose the "extravagant shopping habits" of Britain's males on the Internet.

The survey, conducted by Direct Line, suggests that e-tailers who sell expensive goods would be well advised to make sure they are targeting men. It also flags up that the e-commerce sector needs to do more work persuading potential shoppers that the Web is a trustworthy shopping channel.

The research found that men are seven times more likely than women to spend as much as £1,000 shopping on the Internet, and are also particularly keen on buying motor and holiday insurance online.

According to Direct Line, women are generally less keen on spending large sums of money shopping via the Web, but are extremely satisfied with the results -- with 85 percent saying they've never been disappointed with an online purchase.

"These figures reveal many issues when it comes to purchasing online, not least that men's trust in using the Internet as a shopping channel is currently far greater than women's," said Richard Coombe, head of e-commerce at Direct Line, in a statement.

"This is reflected not only in the high sums of money they are willing to part with, but also by figures stating that women need greater reassurance of the brand they are buying from and that men are 40 percent happier to trust online-only brands with great reputations than their female counterparts," Coombe added.

Many of those people who are splashing £5,000 or more on single online purchases are likely to be snapping up holidays and cars, as automobiles are proving particularly popular on auction sites such as eBay.

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendlyPrint with EPSON

Did you find this article useful?
66 out of 120 people found this useful


Full Talkback thread

0 comments

Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:







Sentry Posts Blog

McKinnon lawyers seek judicial review

Lawyers seeking a judicial review for Nasa hacker Gary McKinnon lodged fresh evidence of his psychiatric state at the High Court on Thursday. Karen Todner, McKinnon's solicitor,... More

1 comment

Beware of keeping your head in the clo...

Information security professionals can look forward to a deepening appreciation for their skills as security continues to be recognised as an essential element for doing business in... More

1 comment

Civil liberties groups attack file-sha...

Civil liberties and digital rights organisations have strongly criticised Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill. Liberty said in a position paper on Tuesday that the bill, part of... More

Post a comment

Video icon

Video

Google Chrome

Roundup: Full coverage of Google Chrome

The search giant has launched a beta of its own open-source browser, sending a clear challenge to Microsoft in the way it lets users work with applications More

Blog: Google Chrome has Microsoft's code inside, says MS manager

And furthermore, he says, that's a good thing... More

Blog: Google Chrome — nine things we've found since launch

Google must be very happy with the coverage Chrome has gathered. But it's not all good news... More


Skip Sub Navigation Links to CNET Brand Links

Help

Become part of the ZDNet community.

Newsletters