How popular is online shopping in APAC – across different markets and product categories?

Did you know that the world’s biggest shopping bonanza started out as a day of celebration for people who are not in a romantic relationship? 11.11, or Singles’ Day, was first promoted as an online bargain shopping day by e-commerce giant Alibaba’s TMall and TaoBao, but has now grown into a global shopping extravaganza.

So how popular is online shopping among consumers in APAC today? To what extent is consumer interest in online shopping affected by concerns about data privacy? And what kinds of products do consumers in APAC still mostly prefer buying in physical stores?

How does the popularity of online shopping vary across major APAC markets?

Latest data from YouGov Global Profiles – the world's largest globally consistent audience dataset – shows that over half of consumers in Indonesia (56%) and half of consumers in Thailand (50%) say that they generally prefer to buy things online than at physical stores. In contrast, over a third of consumers in Singapore (37%) and Australia (34%) say the same, and just over a quarter of consumers in Hong Kong (27%).  

Analysing by age reveals that online shopping is generally more popular among younger than older consumers. In Indonesia and Thailand, close to three-fifths of consumers aged 18-34 years generally prefer to shop online, compared to less than half of consumers aged 35 and older.

In Singapore and Australia, close to half of consumers aged 18-34 years generally prefer to shop online compared to one-third or less of consumers aged 45 and older. In Hong Kong, over two-fifths of consumers aged 18-24 years and one-third of consumers aged 25-34 years to shop online.

Do concerns about data privacy affect consumer preference for online shopping?

Data from YouGov Global Profiles also shows that consumers who worry about their privacy when using the internet are significantly less likely to say they generally prefer buying things online than in stores.

In Indonesia and Thailand, consumers with data privacy concerns are 16-18% less likely to prefer shopping online. In Singapore and Australia, this gap widens to 20-21%, while among Hong Kong consumers there is a 25% difference.

What products and services do most consumers prefer buying offline?

Latest YouGov RealTime Omnibus research – which provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets – also reveals the kinds of purchases, in each market, that the majority of consumers would prefer to make in brick-and-mortar stores.

In Australia, two-thirds of consumers still prefer buying groceries (66%) in person. Around three in five would also prefer purchasing vehicles (62%) and clothes (60%) from physical stores, while over half say the same for medicines (55%). In contrast, Australian consumers are least likely to prefer buying video games (15%), insurance (16%) and travel services (17%) in person.

In Indonesia, just under half of consumers would prefer buying vehicles (49%), medicines (49%) and electronics/tech (48%) from physical stores. Meanwhile, Indonesian consumers are least likely to prefer buying video games (11%), travel services (12%) and insurance (14%) in person.

In Hong Kong, over three-fifths of consumers prefer purchasing clothes (61%) in person, while over half say the same for groceries (52%). Just under half would prefer to buy medicines (48%) from physical stores, as would over two in five for electronics/tech (41%) products. In contrast, Hong Kong consumers are least likely to prefer purchasing travel services (15%), video games (17%), insurance (22%) in person.

In Singapore, close to three in five consumers prefer buying groceries (58%) from physical stores, while almost half say the same for clothes (49%). In contrast, Singaporean consumers are least likely to prefer purchasing video games (15%), travel services (16%) and books (17%) in person.

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Methodology: YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 43 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ years in China and 18+ years in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.

Australian data figures have been weighted by age, gender and region to be representative of all adults residing in Australia (aged 18+) and reflect the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population estimates. Singapore data figures have been weighted by age, gender and ethnicity to be representative of all adults residing in Singapore (aged 18+) and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.

This article was originally published on YouGov, read the full article series here.