What choices do women make when shopping online?

Now that the Christmas-shopping season is right around the corner it is time to talk about online shopping. Specifically about how do we get shopping done, and what about women when it comes to virtual solutions? Knowing that as a part of the (often invisible) emotional labor, it’s usually women who get to the majority of the holiday shopping done.

Women are more keen on online shopping than men

We tend to believe that women are more into shopping in bigger malls, while men prefer to linger over their PC – perhaps the mobile – to get stuff done as soon as possible. According to a recent survey by market research company Nielsen, 72 percent of women admitted to having shopped online within the last 30 days, compared with 68 percent of men. What is more, women tend to be more interested in e-mail marketing, too: 14 percent has made a purchase via a link found in an email, while only 8 percent of the male population has done the same.

They are fond of special offers and bargains

We are not particularly surprised if a mom of four hunts for all the greatest bargains and take a tour around town to find them, but it seems like all women – regardless of educational background, social class or financial situation – adore special offers: 71 percent of them admitted that their latest purchase was a special offer-buy. Female products are therefore particularly attractive if paired with a special offer – and that is true even if the can shop it online.

Yes, they gladly buy tech-items, too

Even though the average British woman spends around three times as much money on clothes over the course of their lifetime than men, the stereotype about women piling up shoes is probably false: male British shoppers are taking the lead nowadays on the purchase of shoes. Women, on the other hand are top tech-customers: 88 percent of them have purchased some kind of tech-related item during the past one year. Mostly it’s a mobile or a tablet, actually.

They love apps

Talking about the mobile, it’s important to add that women are downloading 40 percent more mobile applications than men. Nevertheless, men are at the forefront when it comes to in-app spending and mobile games. It might come as a surprise for many that men are the major installers of shopping apps by various retail stores (18 vs. 14 percent), even though the difference is getting smaller and smaller every year.

Women are more active on Facebook and Instagram

Reddit, Google+ and LinkedIn are mainly the playground of men (they are not only present in greatest numbers but also tend to be more active), whereas Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are dominated by women (the latter has 52 percent of female and 48 percent of male users, at least according to a survey by Statista from January 2018). Seems like women believe that interaction with the brand is particularly important on social media: 55 percent of them prefer to buy a brand they have been in personal touch with on Facebook or elsewhere, Nielsen says.

Screenist and women

Considering that Screenist enables impulse buying by instantly linking the product with a webshop, we need to talk about an entirely new aspect of the consumer attitude. When it comes to women’s shopping during the Christmas-season, impulse buying does not mean (at least not in the first place) that they just obtain anything and everything they can get their hands on, but it’s more about a long list running on a subconscious level with all the names of their loved ones, which activates when they see certain products: “yeah, this is the scarf my brother needs” or “my son would just adore this console”.

Female consumers do not only play a significant role in e-commerce throughout the holiday season though, but it’s important to build a conscious strategy on their preferences and needs throughout the entire year.

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