Affluent northeastern men are most likely to look online for electronics
A nationwide survey of 1,001 adults for investment bank RBC Capital Markets provides a detailed demographic breakdown of consumer inclinations to shop online versus in stores. Among those most likely to shop online are men, higher-income consumers and residents of the Northeast.
The most recent sampling for RBC’s CASH (Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household) survey included a question about where the shopper would look for a consumer electronics product, such as a flat screen TV or MP3 player. 45% said a specialty consumer electronics retailer like Best Buy or Circuit City, 28% a discount mass merchant like Wal-Mart, 11% the web site of a specialty retailer, 7% a local independent retailer and 6% a general online merchant like Amazon or Dell. 2% said they didn’t know or were not sure. The numbers do not add up to 100% because of rounding.
15% of men said they would shop at a specialty consumer electronic web site and 8% at a general web merchant; the comparable figures for women were 6% and 5%. The likelihood of shopping online went up slightly by income, with 12% of those making more than $50,000 indicating a preference for a specialized web site, versus 10% of those earning under $25,000. The broader online sites were the choice of 8% of the wealthiest group but only 4% of the under-$25,000 respondents.
14% of consumers in the Northeast said they would shop at a specialty web site, versus 10% for those in the Midwest, South and West. 10% of Northeasterners chose the general web sites, compared with 6% of those who live in the Midwest and South only 4% of those in the West.
The survey was conducted for RBC by Ipsos Public Affairs. This was the first time the survey asked the question about consumer preferences for shopping for consumer electronics, so there is no comparable data available from a prior survey, according to an RBC spokeswoman.
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