The influx of overseas online retailers has not deterred young Australian women from bricks and mortar stores with shoppers favouring both online shopping and in-store shopping experiences, according to a new study from cross-platform audience insights survey, emma™(Enhanced Media Metrics Australia).
Younger women aged 25 – 35 are far more likely to seek information, entertainment and advice ‘on the go’ using connected mobile devices, laptops and their large social networks, which are a key influence on their fashion purchases.
The emmaTM Retail Trends and Insights report, Having It All, reveals that 25-35 year-old women’s shopping and media consumption habits create key opportunities for Australian retailers to engage these consumers both in-store and online to drive impulse purchasing and expand the range of products considered.
“Our emma research has found that the hyper-connected 25-35 year-old Australian woman, with her love of shopping, the in-store experience and social nature of shopping, is highly receptive to targeted retailer messaging and promotions,” Ipsos MediaCT managing director Simon Wake said.
“Public space WiFi services will further provide the means to reach consumers at the optimum time. Combined with imaginative use of social media and geo-locational mobile apps, retailers can take advantage of the higher frequency shopping and media habits of young Australian women to engage these consumers wherever they are – in-store, out and about and online.”
The emma data found that the way women shop for clothing, shoes, fashion items and cosmetics is influenced by their discretionary income, time and media preferences. The average spend for older women in their last purchase, for example, was $180 online and $168 in-store, while younger women spent $118 and $115 respectively.
Younger women see shopping as a fun, social occasion. They are ‘commando raiders’ who shop more often but in shorter bursts because they usually have young children still at home.
Younger women are also more frequent shoppers online, with up to 50 per cent of their total fashion spend going to online retailers. In the past year, one in four younger women has bought fashion from an Australian online retailer and one in 10 from an international outlet.
Older women are more premium shoppers and spend 40 per cent more than younger women on clothing in-store. They are less frequent but more leisurely shoppers.
The most popular fashion and clothing retailers for women are Big W, Kmart, David Jones, Target and Myer, while among the online retailers ASOS, The Iconic and Net-a-Porter are the most popular.
Ipsos SMX – Social Intelligence further compared consumer attitudes and motivations around department stores revealing a symbiotic relationship between bricks and mortar and online purchasing.
It is well known that consumers visit stores to get the right size and colour choice and then buy online, but the reverse is equally common: consumers frequently research online and then visit in-store to try on and then buy with a better discount or to meet an immediate need.
“emma, our cross platform audience insights survey, offers greater scope to track emerging behaviours, analyse the role of social media and other channels in purchases, and enables geo-specific targeting in new ways,” Wake said.
