Irish online shoppers cautious due to downturn

THE ECONOMIC downturn has hit Irish online shoppers, with a new report finding a reduction in the products and services bought online since 2007.

The Net Behaviour Report found that luxury items were hit the hardest, with purchases of flights, videos and DVDs falling by 5 per cent since last year.

Hotel bookings slipped 7 per cent, the survey found, compared to a 2 per cent fall overall in online shopping.

Emmet Kelly, operations director with Net Behaviour, which published the report, said the economic downturn at home and abroad had been a major factor in contributing to the decline.

"In particular, consumers are less willing to spend the kind of money on luxury items that they would have happily spent a year ago," he said.

The survey found that not only were Irish shoppers spending less online, but they had also reduced the amount of time they spent researching potential purchases - by as much as 10 per cent in some cases.

The study revealed that consumers are spending 4 per cent less time online doing research on potential purchases than they did prior to 2007, with time spent looking up videos, DVDs and electrical goods falling 8 per cent, books and magazines down 9 per cent and clothing and accessories falling 10 per cent.

However, consumers are clearly still on the hunt for a bargain, with auction site eBay the top choice for shoppers looking to buy online, accounting for 36 per cent of the market.

In second place was online marketplace Amazon, followed by Argos and BuyandSell.

Despite the downturn, consumers are flocking to travel websites to get flights abroad.

Airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus are still popular with online shoppers, each garnering 45 per cent of monthly visits.

Aer Arann accounts for 13 per cent, British Airways gets 10 per cent and Easyjet and BMI 8 per cent each.

"It's noticeable that while online product research is down by 4 per cent, purchasing has fallen by just 2 per cent overall," Mr Kelly said.

"While it's possible that consumers are becoming more internet savvy by needing to search less when they need to make a purchase, the NB consumer index indicates that Irish internet users are less keen to look for ways to spend their money than was previously the case," he added.