Online spending up as Kiwi dollar goes digital – Media release

New Zealanders appear to have taken to online shopping like ducks to water, Statistics New Zealand report from their latest survey.

Latest research shows that more than half the people in the country are doing personal shopping online, an increase of 11 percent since 2009.

“The fact that more than 1.8 million people made online purchases in 2012 shows that our Internet use has evolved considerably from sending the occasional email. The Internet is now part of our everyday lives, and Kiwis are increasingly opting for the convenience that the Internet and things like online shopping provide,” information and communication technology statistics manager Hamish Hill said.

When asked about their spending over the four weeks before being surveyed, 1.2 million people said that they had made an online purchase – that’s over one-third of the working-age population, and 400,000 more people than in 2009.

“We can’t say whether these are pricier one-off purchases, or multiple smaller purchases. What we do know is that 45 percent of online shoppers spent up to $100 online in the four weeks prior to being surveyed, and another 40 percent spent up to $500 online,” Mr Hill said.

Kiwis are also managing their money online through Internet banking. Almost three-quarters of recent Internet users have opted for the virtual banking experience. While the use of Internet banking decreases with age, over one-third of those aged 75 years or older had used it in the 12 months before the survey.

Of course, the Internet is also still a place to play: half of all users aged 25–44 years are doing their reading online, and 76 percent of 15–24-year-olds use the Internet to listen to or download music. Social media remains popular, with two-thirds of the country engaging in social networking, a 20 percent increase since 2009. While the young dominate the social networking scene, you’ll find 1 in 6 Internet users aged 75+ there too.

These figures come from the Household Use of Information and Communications Technology Survey, which measures the access to and use of the Internet by individuals and by New Zealand households.