Hitwise Intelligence - Sandra Hanchard - Asia Pacific

Gen Ys most loyal shoppers to Appliances and Electronics sites

2010-03-22T07:06:32Z

Earlier this month, Commonwealth Bank in conjunction with the University of Canberra launched Viewpoint - a report on the economic vitality of Australia. The report found that Gen Ys' spending habits were surprisingly resilient to the Global Financial Crisis - “Gen Y’s spending increased 6.2 per cent in 2009, despite earnings growing only 2.5 per cent and job losses in the age group rising 13.6 per cent.”

This insight corresponds broadly to a finding from our recent study on the “New vs. Returning” visitors to Shopping and Classifieds – Appliances and Electronics websites in the lead up to Christmas last year. Interestingly, 18-24 year olds were 44% more likely than the online average to be returning visitors to Appliances and Electronics websites in November 2009. Even though Gen Ys were amongst the hardest hit group by economic pressures, they were still the most engaged online researchers in one of the most popular online retail categories last year.

In comparison, users over 55 were the least likely to return to Appliances and Electronics websites. Given that 55+ users have high purchasing power, and are becoming a larger segment with Australia’s ageing population, retailers should be stepping up their efforts to market to this group and create compelling content that invites repeat visits.

We also looked at the broader Lifestyle Mosaic Groups and found that “Learners and Earners (students) and “Pushing the Boundaries” (young families) were the two household groups most likely to have repeat visits to Appliances and Electronics sites in November 2009. The strength of repeat visits by young families, in addition to students, suggests that households with tight disposable incomes may also be engaging in higher than usual comparison shopping activity.

Department Stores fastest growing retail sector online in NZ

2010-03-19T00:25:02Z

Visits to Shopping and Classifieds – Department Stores websites grew by 55.6% year on year in February 2010 compared to all categories by New Zealand Internet users. Department Stores websites have attracted strong interest from shoppers since December 2009, when visits reached an all-time high.

NZ Visits to Department Stores Websites, Feb 09 to Feb 10

Amazon.com was the leading Department Stores website in December 2009 with 28.3% share of visits. Local brand, The Warehouse – New Zealand, ranked at second position, also held significant share with 21.9% of visits. Quick deals websites are also helping fuel growth to the online Department Stores sector, with 3 Deals, Dealaday, Snatchadeal and 6 Shooter all amongst the top 10. Other leading bricks and mortar brands included Farmers and Kmart New Zealand, while NZ Herald Shopping debuted at #10.

The prominence of discount players amongst the leading Department Stores websites is reflected by an audience swing to mostly middle-class and low-income groups. The top 4 Mosaic Lifestyle Groups over-represented in Department Stores visits included:

· “Grey Power” - retirees residing in coastal resorts, large towns and provincial cities.

· “Provincial Pride” – traditional households in provincial towns.

· “Suburban Comfort” - wealthy areas of educated professionals, family households.

· “Working Fringe” - mixed families with stretched budgets in outer suburbs.

Other consumer retail sectors in New Zealand that have enjoyed strong growth include Apparel and Accessories, Grocery and Alcohol and Video and Games.

Housing Bubble Searches in Australia at all time high

2010-03-11T05:23:01Z

Housing affordability in Australia is currently a hot issue with a recent rise in interest rates, an end to the first home buyers’ grant, and subsequent slowed lending. Despite this, pressure on house prices remains high with a fast growing population and a shortfall in housing development.

There is potentially an element of desperation amongst home buyers and this is reflected in their search behaviour. Search traffic around the term ‘housing bubble’ was at its highest point during the week ending 6 March 2010:

Property websites have attracted strong growth in visits year-on-year from two very different Mosaic Lifestyle groups - “Community Disconnect” and “Privileged Prosperity”.

“Community Disconnect” households are best described as ‘Older blue-collar workers and retirees in country and coastal locations’. Much of the visit growth was from the Mosaic sub-segment “Fractured Families” - Disadvantaged singles living in inexpensive accommodation. Their strong interest in property websites could be reflecting pressures on finding rentals amidst stock shortages.

“Privileged Prosperity”, the wealthiest segment online, was the second highest household type to increase visits to Property websites over the year. The prominence of this group is indicative of property interest by the investor community.

I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on other changes to search behaviours we’re likely to see from Australian home buyers this year.

Bushfires 2010 Online: What did we learn from last time?

2010-02-22T22:09:07Z

Last year I wrote about the online response to the Victorian bushfires and how Australians used the Internet to find out important information about this devastating crisis. In this post, I want to explore if there has been any ‘learned behaviour’ in the community about being prepared for environmental disasters as reflected in their search patterns.

The below chart appears to indicate that online users were quick to react online to the event last year, but the volume of searches around ‘bushfires’ this year is relatively small in comparison.

It is encouraging however to see in the chart below, that the types of searches around bushfires that I covered last year, namely, Appeal, Education, General, Informational, Services have had various ebbs and flows - most likely in response to some of the offline campaigns that have been run by the various state authorities. There has been some prominence around ‘education’ related searches in the past few weeks, indicating some desire by users to be equipped with knowledge about bushfire safety.

Who is being strategic about online crisis management?

Our data can also illustrate the types of websites that are receiving traffic on bushfires, to help determine which organisations are being effective in getting online community traction. The NSW Rural Fire Service received the most traffic on ‘bushfires’ for the past 12 weeks, reflected in the table below:

Other government groups are using tactics such as pay-per-click to get traffic (accounting for 2.5% of clicks from ‘bushfires’ searches), resulting in their appearance amongst the top websites.

For government and community organisations, both short-term tactics should be used to meet immediate information needs (e.g. PPC and Display), while long-term campaigns (e.g. SEO and Social Media) should be used to mitigate complacency and instigate cultural change around bushfire awareness in Australia.

iPad – which Aussie telco has the best audience fit with Apple?

2010-02-02T01:21:59Z

Last week Alan and Robin wrote about the hype leading up to the announcement of the Apple iPad. In Australia, major telcos are well aware of consumers' interest in the iPad, and are keen to replicate the success of the release of the iPhone in 2008. When the iPhone was launched in Australia, I noted how the initial interest in apps for the iPhone quickly transferred to the local carriers and their pricing plans.

A key tactic for telcos seeking to benefit from the Australian iPad launch will be to tap into Apple’s audience base. To understand which player is currently best placed to do this, I ran a report on telco websites that attracted a similar Lifestyle Mosaic profile to Apple Australia over the past 12 weeks. Vodafone Australia had the closest matching Mosaic audience to Apple Australia, with both websites highly-represented amongst affluent, tech-savvy households.

How can telcos target Apple users?

Social Networking and Forums can be an effective channel for creating viral buzz around a product or brand. Using the same principle above, I ran a report of the Social Networking and Forums websites that attracted a similar audience to Apple Australia over the past 12 weeks, which revealed some niche advertising opportunities:

It is no surprise to see popular tech-oriented websites in there, such as Mac Forums, digg and Whirpool. One surprise was fashion website, Vogue Australia Forums – but this serves as a good reminder to telcos they should be actively targeting a female demographic, with commentators noting that future prospects for the e-reader market are more likely to be female.

Another key tactic for telcos and retailers will be to get interested consumers pre-registered as quickly as possible. I noticed last week DickSmith linking a Twitter alert on the iPad to an email registration form – a great way to keep prospects engaged through to the point of sale.

2009 Year of the Status Update: Spending more time on fewer sites

2009-12-23T22:10:13Z

To wrap up my blog for this year, I thought I’d look at how Australian Internet users divide their time online. This is a pertinent question as marketers battle it out for the precious attention span of consumers on what is now considered a mainstream channel.

The below table compares the average session time for each Experian Hitwise parent industry during November 2009 and November 2008.

Overall Australian are spending a longer amount of time online during each session, with the average visit time 11 minutes 30 seconds in November 2009, compared to 11 minutes 7 seconds in November 2008. This might seem like a marginal difference but what’s interesting is the spread in time spent online. There were only three parent industries which increased their average session duration over the year, namely, Computers and Internet, Shopping and Classifieds and Adult.

Computers and Internet websites attracted the greatest increase in average visit time over the year, with the sub-industry, Social Networking and Forums accounting for the longest amount of time. The average session duration to Social Networking and Forums was 20 minutes 43 seconds in November 2009, compared to 19 minutes 12 seconds in November 2008. Australians also spent a longer amount of time on Email Services, Portal Frontpages and Search Engines.

Greater concentration in visits to top sites

At the same time, we’re also seeing a greater concentration in visits to the top 10 websites, which unsurprisingly all fall under the Computers and Internet parent category. The top 10 websites accounted for 29% share of visits in November 2009, compared to 26.3% share of visits in November 2008. In other words, the ‘big’ players are getting bigger.

What we need to consider now is that users are doing more within each ‘web business’ ecosystem. There’s a lot of anecdotal commentary that ‘status updates’ are a popular form of user activity (and we can tackle the Hitwise evidence for this in a future post). The key point is that we’re spending more time engaging with more fragmented information, which also belies the phenomenal growth of Twitter.

So if I had one standout message for marketers in 2010: ‘Brevity’ and ‘Relevancy’ of communications will be the earmarks of success for engaging with the 24/7 connected consumer. Thanks for reading, and see you all next year!

More last-minute Christmas shopping this year

2009-12-22T21:53:37Z

Visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites in Australia this year have been slower overall than in 2008. A key factor has been the fallout from the global financial crisis with consumers overall more cautious in their spending habits. As a result, we’ve noticed more last-minute shopping, with daily visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites prior to Christmas peaking later this year than in 2008:

·The peak day for Shopping and Classifieds in 2008 prior to Christmas day was 7 December 2008 (which was a Sunday), with 7.26% share of visits.

·In 2009, the day that has attracted the greatest share of visits for Shopping and Classifieds so far is 13 December 2009, also a Sunday, with 6.74% share of visits.

Another reason why visits to Shopping websites are occurring later in the season is the greater connection between online and offline shopping (See Heather Dougherty’s related post). We certainly have seen searches for ‘trading hours’ and ‘store location’ grow each Christmas period in Australia, demonstrating how shoppers use online to support their in-store purchases.

So in the 11th hour, which Bricks and Mortar Retailers are set to benefit from the last-minute shopping rush?

Apple is performing strongly, with the Apple Store and its Australian website accounting for 14.5% share of visits amongst Bricks and Mortar Retailers. It is also interesting to note the appearance of The Westfield Group amongst the top 10 websites, reinforcing our observations on the importance of online for promoting physical retail outlets.

This wraps up my retail posts for this year. You can download the full Experian Hitwise Christmas Retail series here. Wishing you all a happy festive season!

Comparison shopping sites can help influence new shoppers

2009-12-17T09:00:36Z

A few weeks ago I wrote about the opportunity for retailers to build brand credibility through strengthening online content around consumer product reviews. This is part of a wider theme of understanding both the short and long term influencing factors during the customer online buying cycle.

In this post, I want to take a step back and look at how we can help identify where the customer ‘starts’ their shopping research. To that end, I looked at the downstream clicks of the largest distributor of traffic to retail websites in Australia, i.e. Google Australia (more than 1 in 4 clicks during November 2009), and used our ‘new visitors’ filter to understand where new customers were going.

You can see that eBay Australia and Trading Post Online get the most ‘new’ traffic which is probably more a factor of their sheer online size. What’s notable is the prevalence of comparison shopping websites, namely Shopping.com AU, GetPrice, MyShopping.com.au, and Lasoo amongst the top 20 websites.

While having a strong online brand presence is important in attracting customers direct via search engines, strong partnerships with comparison shopping websites is also key in influencing customers during the early phase of the buying cycle.

Update: Note that the websites in the table are listed in order of 'new click volume'. The horizontal bars in the far right column allude to the 'new' vs. 'returning' visitor rate per website.

Credit card searches up as consumer confidence returns

2009-11-27T03:36:40Z

Credit card searches in Australia have picked up from a three year low in May 2009, and were up 24% comparing weeks ending 21 November 2009 and 2 May 2009. This is one indication that consumers may be adopting a less tentative attitude towards their personal debt, amidst reports that the consumer outlook for Christmas spending this year is positive.

The below figure charts search variations on ‘credit card’ and ‘term deposit’ trended over a three year period (I’ve excluded their plural forms for the sake of brevity).

Search variations on ‘term deposit’ reached their peak during the week ending 11 October 2008, as Australian banks actively promoted term deposits and encouraged spending restraint from consumers. Since then, search traffic around term deposits has retained its overall momentum, but is not growing at the same rate.

So now that there’s an indication that the tide may be changing, who’s helping to drive increased awareness of credit cards? The below figure shows the top variations on ‘credit card’, with branded terms accounting for 8 out of the top 10 searches. The leading term was ‘ignite credit card’, owned by Westpac, with 3.41% search volume during the 12 weeks ending 21 November 2009. The most popular branded search variation on 'credit cards' (plural) was 'anz credit cards' for the same time period.

For those tempted to put all their Christmas presents on credit this year, here’s some timely advice from finance commentator, Michael Pascoe.

Product reviews – content opportunities for retailers

2009-11-26T00:36:55Z

Retail players, like in any other industry, need to develop strong online content to attract high traffic volumes, and ultimately earn the trust of consumers through the integrity of information provided on websites.

Consumer product reviews are an excellent example of content that retailers can host on their own web properties. ‘Review’ search variations appear frequently for example in the traffic to the Shopping and Classifieds - Appliances and Electronics industry, as consumers seek advice from the source they are often most likely to trust: other consumers.

This type of comparison activity is increasing – a search portfolio of ‘review’ search variations sending traffic to Appliances and Electronics websites increased 5-fold during the 4 weeks ending 21 November 2009, compared to the same period last year. Many Appliances and Electronics retailers have caught on to this trend, with the average rate of paid search traffic accounting for 16.41%.

Mobile phone reviews dominated the top 20 clicks, with the term ‘nokia n97 review’ sending the most traffic to Appliances and Electronics websites. Leading non-branded terms included, ‘mobile phone reviews’, ‘laptop reviews’, ‘gps reviews’, ‘camera reviews’ and ‘digital camera reviews’.

Who’s receiving organic clicks on product reviews?

While PPC is obviously an important tactic in attracting customers, organic search results provide one proxy for the ‘usefulness’ of an online information source, and can be an important benchmark when reviewing which websites get the most traffic from product-related search terms.

It was no surprise to see that tech publications dominated the list of top websites to receive traffic from electronic related ‘review’ terms. CNET.com.au received the most organic traffic, with 13.28% of clicks. Comparison websites also featured prominently, with Product Review Australia receiving 3.46% of clicks.

JB Hi-Fi Australia Online Shop featured as the top bricks and mortar website to receive organic clicks from ‘review’ terms. It was also interesting to see the new Dick Smith Electronics - Customer Reviews website appear recently in our fast moving website listings, debuting at 5th position in the Shopping and Classifieds – Appliances and Electronics category, during the week ending 31 October 2009.

Blog Shops popular in Singapore

2009-11-19T05:57:47Z

Christmas online shopping in Singapore and Hong Kong has gained strength over the past few years, with visits to the Shopping and Classifieds industry reaching a 3-year high during the week ending 28 November 2008 in Singapore, and week ending 13 December 2008 in Hong Kong.

Earlier this week I provided an update on the leading product categories in the retail sector in Australia. There were some regional similarities in Singapore and Hong Kong, with Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Appliances and Electronics dominant verticals in all three markets.

· Apparel and Accessories was the largest retail category in Singapore, accounting for more than 1 in 5 visits to Shopping and Classifieds during the week ending 7 November 2009. Visits to the sector also grew by 34.7% year on year to week ending 7 November 2009.

· An interesting phenomenon in the Singapore Apparel and Accessories industry is the prevalence of blogging websites that offer retail. Examples of blogs amongst the top 10 Apparel and Accessories websites included, BonitoChico, Agneselle, Hollyhoque, Agnes's Deepest Thoughts and So She Say. This could be an indication that Singapore users increasingly prefer to do retail transactions through a blogging vehicle and if this is the case, presents a real challenge to Auctions and Classifieds players in Singapore. Slow year on year visit rates to Auctions and Classifieds websites supports this hypothesis. I’d be interested to hear from Singapore readers if this is backed up anecdotally.

· The Computers industry attracted the highest share amongst Shopping and Classifieds websites in Hong Kong, accounting for 1 in 10 visits during the week ending 7 November 2009. Apple Store accounted for 40% share of visits in the Computers category; behind Singapore in local penetration rate (45%) but ahead of Australia (15%) and New Zealand (4.93%).

· Video and Games attracted 136% growth in visits year on year in Hong Kong, primarily due to the dominance of SensAsian.com, a Malaysian entertainment retail portal. Fast moving categories also included Music and House and Garden. In Singapore, Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Sports and Fitness attracted the fastest year on year growth (34.7%, 21.8%, 5.25% and respectively).

Apparel websites competing strongly in retail sector

2009-11-17T04:19:04Z

Expectations for consumer spending this Christmas in Australia are moderate, despite consumer confidence sitting at 38.3 percent above its level a year ago (Westpac Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index). Given that retailers will be vying for consumer spend not just against immediate competitors, but against retailers in other verticals, I thought I would take a look at the types of products that are attracting consumer interest. Below is a breakdown of visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites by product category.

While Computers attracted the largest share of visits amongst product-related websites, visits dropped by 13.7% comparing week ending 14 November 2009 to the same week last year.

Apparel and Accessories visits attracted the highest year on year growth of 18.2%, and closely trailed Computers in overall volume. Strong performance in the Apparel and Accessories industry has been underscored by significant investment in the online channel by key vendors. Apparel retailers have increasingly recognised the need to maintain a strong web presence to strengthen their brand awareness and increase revenue both online and offline. Examples of fast moving local brands included, Sportsgirl Online, Pumpkin Patch, Kathmandu, Oroton and Witchery.

Other product categories to attract year on year growth included (in order of percentage increase): Music, Video and Games, Grocery and Alcohol, Appliances and Electronics, House and Garden, Automotive, and Sport and Fitness.

Retailers heavily reliant on search traffic

Boosting lead generation from key traffic sources is another important consideration for retailers as they compete for limited consumer spend this year. Shopping and Classifieds websites received one third of their traffic from Search Engines during the week ending 14 November 2009, demonstrating the importance of search engine referrals.

Social Networking and Forums, Email Services. Portal Frontpages and News and Media were all under-indexed traffic sources for Shopping and Classifieds websites, highlighting opportunities for retailers to attract customers from more diverse sources. Retailers should continue to monitor the industry benchmark for traffic leads, as well the sources of 'new' vs. 'returning' visitors to their competitors.

What retail categories are Gen Ys searching for online?

2009-10-30T00:45:06Z

In my last post I looked at search terms by 18-24 year old Australian users, and indicated how they were more likely to search for bricks and mortar brands than online players; with an overall tendency to search by brands compared to products.

As expected, some of the retail categories that these brand and product search terms fell into conformed to some gender stereotypes. For example, ‘Apparel’ related terms attracted the highest percentage of search traffic by 18-24 year old female users (25%), while ‘Electronics’ terms were heavily represented by 18-24 year old male users (28%).

· 18-24 year old females, compared to males, were more likely to search in these retail categories: Apparel, Grocery, House and Garden, Ticketing, Sports (e.g. ‘Nike’), Rewards, Books, Health and Beauty, Mall (e.g. ‘Chadstone shopping centre’), Comparison Shopping (e.g. ‘Shopbot’), Toys, Video and Discount (e.g. ‘Best and Less’).

· 18-24 year old males, compared to females, were more likely to search for brands and products in Electronics, Department Stores, Music, Classifieds, Auctions, Automotive, Mobile, Games, Computers, Hardware, Household, Stationery and Notebooks.

·Apparel brands searched on by 18-24 year old females included, ‘forever new’, ‘supre’, ‘valley girl’, ‘dotti’ and ‘sportsgirl’. Product terms included, ‘engagement rings’, ‘sunglasses’ and ‘dresses’.

· Electronics brands searched on by 18-24 year old males included, ‘apple’, ‘jb hifi’, ‘hp’ and ‘dell’. Product terms included, ‘iphone’, ‘nokia n97’, ‘laptops’, ‘mac’ and ‘tomtom’. Brand names on notebooks included, ‘dell laptops’, ‘toshiba laptops’, ‘hp laptops’ and ‘sony vaio’.

Greater price-sensitivity by female shoppers

It was also interesting to observe that 18-24 year old females had a stronger tendency than males to search on terms related to Comparison Shopping, Rewards and Discount categories. This means that retailers should ensure they are well-represented on comparison shopping websites and reward schemes for products targeted at females.

Retailers can use search behaviour on retail categories to help prioritise which products they market to different age and gender groups across all of their marketing activities. Keyword lists can also be fine-tuned by delving further into the search tail by each segment.

This post and the previous one are based on Experian Hitwise Custom data. To find out more, email csm@hitwise.com.

How do Gen Ys search online when they do shopping research?

2009-10-27T04:19:47Z

Now that we’re into the lead up to Christmas shopping, there has been some commentary on what tactics retailers will apply to make the most of online shopping, including social media. Given this could potentially become a crowded space, retailers have an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by using search data to deepen their understanding of target customers.

Recently we looked at the search traffic of 18-24 year old users in Australia to get a preview of their shopping preferences (based on head of household demographics data, 4 weeks ending 26/9/09). We also broke down searches by gender to see which brands and products resounded with each group.

Some general behaviour we noted:

·Bricks and mortar searches much more dominant than online brands. 18-24 year old females and males were both more likely to search for bricks and mortar brands, accounting for 73% and 70% of searches respectively.

·18-24 year old females are more brand-conscious than males. 85% of top shopping searches by females were for brand names only, compared to 82% for males.

·18-24 year old males are more product-oriented in their searches than females. Product terms accounted for 16% of searches by males compared to 12% for females.

So what does this mean for retailers?

Given the high volume of searches for bricks and mortar brands, traditional retailers need a strong online presence to ensure they’re capturing pre-qualified consumer interest. On the flip-slide, online brands need to do a better job of increasing their brand awareness amongst Gen Ys.

Retailers should also prioritise branding campaigns (above-the-line and display etc.) for attracting 18-24 year old female customers, while Pay-Per-Click budgets should be ramped up for products targeted at 18-24 year old males.

(These principles may well apply across older age groups, but are outside of this study for the meantime.)

Later this week I will publish the top searches by retail categories for 18-24 year old users. Stay tuned.

Kindle searches spike 300% in Australia

2009-10-19T03:29:07Z

The recent announcement that the Kindle will be available to Australian consumers resulted in a 300% lift in searches during the week ending 10 October 2009, with searches maintaining their momentum the following week. Australian interest in the Kindle has long been apparent this year, outstripping searches for other ebook readers including the ‘sony reader’, ‘cybook’ and ‘iliad’.

Opportunity to attract more search traffic from ‘ebooks’

Searches for ‘ebooks’ similarly surged off the back of the Kindle announcement with ebook specialist retailers benefiting from most of the traffic. eBooks.com was the leading website to receive traffic from ‘ebooks’, accounting for 47.76% of clicks, followed by e-book.com.au with 11.08% (4 weeks ending 17 October 2009). Dymocks was the leading traditional retailer receiving search traffic on ‘ebooks’ (13th position overall), while Amazon.com ranked ahead at 8th position. Given the substantial and consistent volume of searches on ‘ebooks’, there is an opportunity for more book retailers to optimise their websites for this term.

Consumers are searching for free ebooks

One of the interesting developments in the publishing industry we’ll see next year is the launch of Google Editions, an online book store. As you can see below, searches for ‘free ebooks’ were top of mind amongst Australian users, signaling that one of the challenges for Google and Amazon will be getting consumers used to paying for their ebooks - in a similar fashion to the online music industry before the itunes era. Also of interest were searches for 'free pdf ebooks' and ‘ebooks for iphone’, suggesting that users won’t necessarily get locked into a specific platform when browsing for ebooks.

Personally, as someone who (shamefully) spends more time these days buying books than actually reading them cover to cover, I’m hoping I’ll spend a lot less money when I can gleam over the latest ebook titles instead.