Intrum's European Consumer Payments Report warns that e-commerce encourages impulse buying, with four out of ten Spaniards admitting to overspending on online purchases. This trend is particularly prevalent among younger people, who prefer e-commerce to physical shops.
The ease and speed offered by the Internet, together with the lack of time of many consumers, has led to an increase in the preference for purchasing products virtually. Specifically, 54% of Spaniards used this method to make their purchases in the last six months. This is according to the latest report on e-commerce published by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), coinciding with Black Friday, the busiest time of the year in terms of consumption and the highest turnover for companies.
Many Spaniards wait for this date to bring forward their Christmas shopping or to purchase goods or services at more affordable prices. In fact, according to estimates by the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU), Spaniards will spend an average of around 201 euros this year on fashion, footwear and electronics, mainly through the Internet.
The CNMC points to Amazon as the ‘undisputed leader’ of online shopping in our country. In total, 68.4% carried out a transaction on this platform. It is followed by the Asian giant AliExpress, which was chosen by 29.4% of users; in Zalando, the percentage was 6.3% and eBay, 4.3%. One percent said they had purchased through the online channel Google Shopping.
The new edition of Intrum's European Consumer Payments Report warns that e-commerce encourages impulse buying, with four out of ten Spaniards admitting to overspending on online purchases. This trend is particularly prevalent among younger people, who prefer e-commerce to physical shops.
The credit and asset management services firm warns that there is a notable generation gap in relation to impulsive consumption in digital environments. Specifically, the data show that 64% of Generation Z recognise that the convenience of online shopping encourages them to spend beyond their means, followed by Millennials, with 51%. As they get older, the trend decreases, reaching 32% for Generation X and only 17% for Boomers. This difference is associated with the greater exposure of the young population to digital environments and their daily relationship with social networks.
In addition, 46% of Spaniards recognise that they make more spontaneous purchases over the Internet than two years ago and half of them claim to have succumbed after seeing advertisements for products or services on social networks.
But this practice also entails risks, which are growing at the same rate as virtual shopping: scams.
Fraudulent practices are recurrent, but they increase in times of great discounts, such as the current one. The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 warned yesterday that 70% of the discounts offered by commercial operators during last year's Black Friday were fake. The modus operandi of many retailers is the same: to raise the price of products in the days leading up to the sales period and then reduce it during Black Friday in order to label them as ‘on offer’ or ‘discounted’.
Faced with this situation, the minister threatened fines of up to 100,000 euros for those operators who do not comply with the regulations.
Source: El Mundo