2024-05-09 04:22:53
Trust, loyalty and price are among our leading attitudes when shopping online. Against the background of global trends, the share of Bulgarians shopping online is relatively high – an average of 71 percent. We shop primarily on mobile, do prior research, are influenced by ads and promotions, and have security and trust in the online stores we consume. These are part of the conclusions of the national representative study for the e-commerce market for 2023 – “The pulse of online consumption in Bulgaria 2023”, presented today, BTA reported.
Seventy-two percent of the respondents indicated that they shopped online for clothes, shoes, accessories, 35 percent – cosmetics, 27 percent – books, household electrical appliances – 25 percent. 56 percent said they bought only one product and that was the intended one. More than three products are usually bought from the category “Clothes and cosmetics”
The study of the attitudes of users of online stores was conducted from June to December among 1,300 people, reported Galya Gogova from the marketing and research agency “Market Links”.
According to the survey, 81 percent of Bulgarians use the Internet every day or almost every day, and 5 percent from one to four times a week. In general, we can say that 82 percent are Internet users in the country, or 4.8 million inhabitants of Bulgaria use the Internet, and this is the adult population, said Gogova and added that women are a little more active. Among the older generation – over 60 years old, the share of Internet users is 73 percent, to a lesser extent it is used by people in villages and small towns.
In response to the question: “Have you shopped online in the last 6 months?”, 71 percent of all Internet users, or 3.3 million users, indicated that they had made at least one purchase in an online environment. There is an increasing trend in the number of online shoppers from small towns and villages compared to previous years, the expert said.
During their last purchase, according to the survey, 71 percent of respondents said they compared prices, 60 percent said they read product or website reviews, 42 percent plan what they will buy online, and spontaneously buy clothes, cosmetics, products that are of lower value. For 75 percent of respondents, product price is one of the most important factors, along with store trust and promotions. 70 percent of consumers indicated that they would return to a merchant if they were satisfied with it.
According to the survey, in response to the question “Which online stores do they think of”, 84 percent of respondents indicated generator sites, followed by fashion sites, with eMAG standing out as a clear leader with 54 percent spontaneous familiarity, and over 95 percent think of this store at assisted level.
Cash on delivery is one of the most used means of payment online – 61 percent indicated that they choose this method. According to the expert, this is linked to the trust in the product, because consumers want to see what they are going to buy – especially with clothes and cosmetics. In addition, not a small proportion of consumers go to the store to physically check out something that they would buy online. The share of card payments is 35 percent, and in recent years there has been a permanent tendency to increase by about 3-4 percent per year.
The most preferred delivery methods are to a courier office or by courier to an address. The new channel for Bulgaria – to the box, is in third place with a three percent preference.
The majority of buyers are satisfied with the purchase, except for those who made a spontaneous purchase, and they are also more likely to file a complaint, but this applies to only 6 percent of those surveyed.
In keeping with global trends, Bulgarians also find inspiration for their purchases from social media, we prefer interactive content and visual content is important to us, said Galya Gogova. There is room for development and upgrading for online sellers to meet the growing expectations of consumers in the country in terms of augmented and virtual reality, sustainable ethical shopping, the use of artificial intelligence, innovative technologies and others.