The Impact of Technology on Consumers

The impact of technology on today’s consumers

Technology has brought a greater choice of things to buy and how to buy them. People use digital technology for entertainment, to connect with friends and relatives, to stay informed and to buy.

This is the impact of technology:

• Global internet users is now past 4 billion

• Well over half the population use the internet

• People are now spending more time online with the average user spending 6 hours a day

• Internet speed is becoming faster therefore more accessible

• The increase is due to affordability of smart phones and data plans

2/3 of the world’s population now has a smart phone

Social media

Social media is more than just connecting with friends but has become an essential source of information. There are 1 million new users everyday on social media – 11 every second. More than 3 billion people use social media each month

Online research

People use online research to:

• Look up product information

• Read peer reviews

• Check and compare prices

• Search for deals and promotions

Video consumption

• 4 x as many customers would prefer to watch a video than read about it

• 50% of internet users watch videos relating to a product or service before going in store

• 100 million hours of video are watched everyday on facebook

• 2/3 of consumers prefer videos less than 60 seconds

• YouTube has over a billion users

Online purchase behaviour

• Is increasing worldwide

• Gen X born 1966 – 1981 made the most purchases in the past year

• Men and women shop the same but men spend more per transaction

• Greater options for shipping and delivery have made it easier to buy bulkier products

• Cross-border shopping is on the rise

• People prefer a PC than phone to buy

"Today’s consumer no longer goes shopping, but is shopping"

Willy Kruh, KPMG International

Technology changing consumers

Consumers are using technology to research, browse and purchase.

Consumers use mobile technology while in store.

Online reviews are impacting purchase decisions.

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