New Study into Australian buying habits on line - from Coremetrics

Cheers Gerry for this.

We have recently completed a study into the online buying habits of Australians and New Zealanders which you may find interesting and useful.

Aussies embrace eCommerce - buying offshore

Melbourne, July 16, 2008 - Coremetrics, the leading provider of digital marketing optimisation solutions, today revealed the results of a study of the online buying habits of Australians and New Zealanders with some surprising results. The study, which focused on the interaction of visitors to a sample of major US based eCommerce web sites during the first half of 2008, found that:

* Australians and New Zealanders are twice as likely to buy products when they shop online, than consumers in other major markets, including the US and the UK.
* The typical total order value by visitors from Australia and New Zealand was 34% less than the global average.
* The amount of time taken to decide and make a purchase by Australians was consistent with the world average, but a full minute and a half longer than our UK cousins.

"The significantly higher conversion rate of Aussies and Kiwis buying on line is a bit surprising" said Coremetrics General Manager for Australia, Kevin Mackin. "It suggests that consumers here have become much more comfortable and confident to buy online than most people had expected. This outcome suggests that local sellers need to look at their own online strategies to keep the business in our region. I hope it doesn't mean that we are suckers for internet marketing strategies!"

Global Trends

The study shows some strong global trends in eCommerce which can be applied by local web marketers as well:

* Average Session Length: 7mins 34secs
* Page Views per Session: 9.3
* Average Order Value: US$78.69
* Orders per session: 2.96 orders per 100 sessions

The average session length - 7∏ minutes - shows that web shoppers are happy to search around and make a considered decision. Web sites which engage their customers with interesting and relevant content, especially now adding third party references and recommendations are reporting the best results in this area. It is interesting to note that the ANZ visitors were on the global average for session length, whereas some of the more so-called advanced internet markets such as the US and the UK showed results of 1-1∏ minutes less time. A small portion of this time could be attributed to internet speed but a definite difference beyond that is evident.

The average number of number of page views per session is a measure of the 'stickiness" of a site. Combined with the average session length, it shows that the ecommerce sites in the study attracted around 48 seconds of viewing time per page. This value is increasing with the advent of smarter and more engaging web 2.0 technologies including video product outlines and high quality custom graphics. Australian visitors were consistent with the global average number of page views per session at 9.1 and New Zealanders were just under the average at 8.6.

The average order value is a function of the products and services in the sample group studied and in itself is of little interest. However, the differences in average order value across geographies is striking. Against the global average of US$78.69, Australian visitors average spend was $54.76 and New Zealanders were at $48.46. Combined, this is around 34% less than the global average. On the world stage, one of the highest value spending countries was Singapore which came it at $111.23

Orders per session describes the conversion rate of orders from the general number of visitors to the web sites studied. A global conversion rate of 3 orders per 100 sessions is lower than those figures which have been seen in other studies and may be related to the level of competition encountered by the web sites in the study. Australians accounted for a rate of 4.4 orders per 100 sessions; New Zealanders came in at 4.0 orders per 100 sessions. Both of these countries were significantly higher than the US at 3.3, the UK was at 1.7 and Singapore at 1.0. The weighting of clothing and sporting goods products and services in the sample could be attributed for some of this variance with these items being more widely and cost effectively available in their local markets.

Coremetrics Benchmarking

The data in this study came from an extension of the Coremetrics benchmarking capability - LIVEmark. Coremetrics is the only marketing optimisation company that bundles a web site benchmark for retail and specific sub-verticals and behavioral analytics within a single interface. Coremetrics LIVEmark leverages aggregate performance data across more than 300 participating brands to deliver over 35 benchmark metrics addressing performance indicators such as campaign and channel effectiveness, site stickiness and conversion rates.

The study looked at buyer activity across nearly a million eCommerce retail web site visits by users from Australia and New Zealand to a range of major US based internet properties during the first half of 2008.

In the study, visitors from Australia and New Zealand accounted for:

Ø 963,349 Visits

Ø US$2.29M in sales

Ø 42,600 Orders

Ø 8.6 Million page views

The study focused on visits primarily concerned with B2C eCommerce, with dominant product categories:

Ø Clothing

Ø Sporting Goods

Ø Books and calenders

Ø General Merchandise and electronic goods

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