What do women want when purchasing online?

According to the Q4 2019 Conference Board Global Consumer Confidence Survey done in collaboration with Nielsen, women in Asia Pacific want a risk-free experience when buying online. However, they are also unwilling to sacrifice the convenience they seek. As such, more than half of Southeast Asian women (53%)  are encouraged to make purchases online, when they know that there is money-back guarantee, compared to 45% of their counterparts in Asia Pacific.

As mentioned, when it comes to convenience, 80% of women are always or often influenced to switch products if the products are easy to use or more convenient. Moreover, nearly half of women in Southeast Asia (45%) are more likely to buy online, if the company sends them a text or an email when a product is unavailable(compared to 37% of women on APAC level). Moreover, in Southeast Asia, 62% of women are encouraged to buy online when there is free delivery from Tuesday to Thursday, compared to 54% of women in Asia Pacific.

In Southeast Asia, women want products and services that simplify their day and return to them what they value most - time. Close to 65% of Southeast Asian women prefer to shop online, and amongst them, 62% across the region look at convenience while shopping online. This is compared to only 55% of men.

When it comes to Singaporean women, 76% of them are the primary shoppers and decision-makers of grocery shopping. According to Nielsen, 72% of Singaporean women usually plan what they want to buy before shopping for groceries. Meanwhile, 79% like to take their time and browse all parts of the store.

Besides being the main decision-makers when it comes to grocery shopping, Singaporean women are price conscious, with 66% of them indicating that they wll compare the prices of store brands with leading brands to decide if they are worth buying. Also, 62% of them will make a point of looking at circulars and clip coupons on grocery products.

Nearly a third (29%) of women in Asia Pacific are also now using technology such as an in-home device or virtual assistant to receive notifications and automatically order products. Globally, 50% of women worldwide are open to using AR/VR for assessing products and services. this enables risk-free scenarios, allows women to try before they buy, and helps them make faster and smarter decisions.

On a broader level in Asia Pacific, Nielsen found that 84% of women have shared primary household responsibilities compared to just 51% of men. That said, compared to other regions, women and men in Asia Pacific are more aligned in their agreement of who has primary responsibility.

"The increase in dual working couples means that convenience is an even more important factor in their choices. This makes women one of the largest opportunities for convenience-led technologies and services," Nielsen explained. Marketing has reached out to Nielsen for additional information about the Southeast Asian market.

Separately, Nielsen found that major concerns over the next six months for Southeast Asian men and women were: Childrens’ education/welfare (5.6% women vs 2.6% men); parents’ welfare/happiness (4.5% women vs 2.8% men); increasing utility bills (4.2% women vs 2.9% men).