CONNECTIONS: Mature surfers outdo young in online sales

The research - covering 37 countries, including Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Thailand, Australia and Taiwan - revealed that 22 per cent were in the 30 to 39 age bracket, with the 40 to 59 and 60-plus groups accounting for 18 and 14 per cent respectively of the total. In comparison, 18 per cent came from the twenty-something group.

Chan Chi-wing, Taylor Nelson Sofres regional director, telecoms and technology, said it was traditionally believed that the skew was biased towards the younger generation. "They might be faster adopters of high technology, but as most are just at the beginning of their careers their purchasing power is lower, compared with the other age groups. Some might not even have a credit card.

"The fact that a significant proportion of online shoppers are upwards of 60 years old shows that the internet has become more user-friendly than before. Once you have made a purchase over the internet, familiarity comes quickly, Chan said.

The study also found that Australia, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan led the Asia region in terms of net usage. But when it came to making online purchases only Korea stood out.

Chan said that this was because most people still use the net to research products and services before making purchases in the traditional offline manner. He added that culture and convenience also played a major role in buying behaviour. "Most people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are of Chinese origin and they like to see and touch the products they want to buy. Also shopping in these markets is convenient, with everything just around the corner, he said.

However, Chan stressed that this doesn't mean that marketers should give up trying to sell over the internet in a market like Hong Kong.

"My definition of ecommerce is that it is a process that is both online and offline. It has to be integrated and working together to make the sale in whatever manner suits the customer the best.

"Being online gives a company just one dimension. But having an offline presence makes the offering more tangible and that gives any promotion, including customer relationship management programmes, more impact."