What you need to know about ecommerce trends in Catalonia

On Wednesday 14 December, the Association of Marketing and Communication of Catalonia presented the main conclusions of the second study of eCommerce Communication in Catalonia. E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce, is the practice of buying and selling products over the Internet. This trend has been on the rise for years and the Covid-19 2020 crisis has only strengthened the digital habit among consumers.

Figuring out how to direct communication to make it more efficient is one of the main challenges we face as professionals. The event studied how this communication influences consumers' online purchasing decisions, and from there, as professionals, we have the tools to be able to fine-tune our skills and resources.

The study was prepared and presented by Ramon Montanera, Market Intelligence Director of Elogia, the agency specialising in digital commerce marketing and corporate partner of the College of Marketing and Communication of Catalonia.

At MC Advertising we would like to summarise the main conclusions of the study:

- The majority of online shoppers, in 71% of cases, prefer their mobile devices for online shopping. Even so, there are still 60% of these who do it from the computer and 15% do it through the tablet.
- On the other hand, 86% of shoppers only use the internet for research and information before buying something.
- Young people under the age of 25 use social networks to communicate with brands.
- As defined in the study, 52% of online shoppers are women compared to 48% who are men.
- The average age is 44 years old, with the highest concentration between 35-54 years old and an average spend of 77€. Spending is higher from the age of 55 onwards.
- In general, the online shopping experience is rated highly, with an average score of 7.5/10. This increases as the age of the shopper increases.
- A large proportion of consumers are increasingly looking for the convenience that online shopping brings. 24% value the possibility offered by the Internet when it comes to finding discounts and more competitive prices and the majority of consumers are looking for facilities in aspects such as: speed of returns, quality of the products or the waiting time for the order.

- The online channel represents 70% of sales, in addition, there is an 18% of "ROPO" (they get information online and buy in a physical shop) and a 14% of "Showrooming" (they search offline and buy online).

- Online shoppers accept an average waiting time of 2 to 3 days to receive their order. Also, 7 out of 10 Catalan shoppers would pay delivery costs according to the total cost of the basket, and 39% would be willing to pay an annual flat rate for delivery costs.
- The study presents an additional block on the Metaverse. 6 out of 10 online shoppers (58%) have heard or read about the metaverse, mainly men. However, only 8% of all online shoppers have ever used it.