3. Online Shopping

Back to contents of State of the Net issue 13

Late 20s, early 30s. Loves travel and gigs. Downloads music and buys DVDs. Not necessarily a gadget freak. New EU data on online shopping helps create this profile of the typical Irish online shopper. It shows that the number buying online in Ireland has shown one of the fastest growth rates across the EU27. In 2008, 36% of Irish people shopped on the Internet, compared with just 14% in 2004, with the latest rankings putting us slightly above the EU average of 32%. The greatest concentration of online shoppers in Ireland is among 25-34 year olds at 52%, followed by 35-44 year olds (44%) and 16- 24 year olds (34%). An analysis of what shoppers buy online throws up some quirky details. In general, we score higher than average for buying travel and accommodation online and about average for tickets, film and music. But Irish consumers lag behind our European neighbours when it comes to buying clothes, household goods, books and magazines and even electronic gadgets online. Similar to other European tables, Denmark leads the pack, with 59% of its population buying online, while the UK is close behind, with a gap of just two percentage points.

Source: Eurostat, March 2009, respondents asked if they have bought or ordered goods or services for their own use over the Internet over past 12 months, data collected mainly in second quarter of 2008

Back to contents of State of the Net issue 13