Across APAC.
Online purchases are gaining across most product categories in the Asia Pacific region with mobile payment usage up 30% from a year ago.
GfK’s latest FutureBuy report revealed a continuing surge in online shopping across most of the 18 tracked product categories, including home appliances, in the region. It found that 63% of consumers said a mobile device is becoming their most important shopping tool.
“Online shopping is growing rapidly at a global level as increasing number of consumers are realising and appreciating the many advantages it offers,” GfK consumer insights lead for APAC, Karthik Venkatakrishnan said. “This was largely driven by the deepening internet penetration rate across countries, the appeals of purchasing online boiling down to lower prices, convenience and the availability of greater options,” he said.
When it comes to their choice of device to use for internet shopping, there was a rising trend from over a third of consumers for shopping on a smartphone. However, the FutureBuy study revealed significant differences in the type of product categories purchased using different devices. For instance, while fast moving consumer goods are mainly bought through smartphones, larger items like laptops and appliances tended to be purchased on PCs.
Making payments via mobile phones continues to be a popular option too, when shopping online, as well as at the physical store. Over half (54%) of the region’s consumers agreed that they preferred to use this mode of payment when transacting online, and slightly more (55%) said the same for transactions in the physical store. Across the region, mobile payment usage has also spiked 30% over last year, mainly contributed by the millennials.
“Although cash remains king for now, making up 41%of all of APAC consumers’ transactions, using cash as a payment method has declined 5% compared to a year ago, and we foresee a persistent downtrend in the coming years,” observed Venkatakrishnan.
“On the other hand, the usage of mobile payments and the online wallet will continue to pick up over time as consumers’ become increasingly comfortable and confident with this method, and ease up on their concerns towards personal information and security associated with credit cards,” he concluded.