The association, Confianza Online, has published a study on How has the profile of the Spanish digital buyer evolved? in recent years. The document “Trends and evolution of digital consumption in Spain 2018-2022” is prepared using data from 11,425 online orders made by consumers in the last five years, with an economic volume of about 3.4 million euros.
During these years, the Spanish consumer has increased their online spending significantly: the median ticket for online acquisitions has increased by 35.91%, going from 273.31 euros per person in 2018 to 371.45 euros in 2022. Both men and women now spend more on e-commerce, although more men than women: the average annual ticket for men has grown by 50.49%, going from 281.97 euros in 2018 to 424.33 euros in 2022, while, in the case of women, the rise has been significantly less: 18.39%.
During this period there has been, simultaneously, a constant reduction in the gender gap in the digital consumer that has been gradually closing, especially since the pandemic. In 2022, the study shows that the gender gap in online purchases has ended, thus reaching a parity of 50% of the share of purchases through the Internet in both genders. In addition, the participation of women has increased in the 5 sectors with the highest purchasing volume, especially in the electronics sectorwith more than 160%.
Reduces the generation gap
The generation gap has also been reduced in this period: the share of digital consumers aged between between 61 and 70 years old has increased by 39.97%, while the age between 31 and 40 years has decreased (-18.11%), although the latter continue to be the most active in online purchases (34.24% of the sample). “Since 2018, age is no longer a barrier to online shopping, given the significant incorporation of digital users over 60 years of age». Tiziana Tallaro, General Director of Confiaza Online, has pointed out.
The data reveals that the median digital consumer is 41 years old, resides in Madridbuys in the multi-store sector and prefers to do so during discount campaigns and offers, although they maintain different consumption habits.
The study shows that women prefer to buy in campaigns Christmas (with 61.11% of the share of purchases) and Mother’s Day (with 55.74%); and his favorite sectors are department stores and home and decoration.
On the other hand, men take more advantage of campaigns like the Day without VAT (with 76.19% of the share of purchases made) and Black Friday (with 62.92%). It is men, in fact, within the group of the youngest, who start buying products online earlier. His favorite sectors include telecommunications and electronics.
There is still a territorial gap in Spain
The report states that the majority of consumers (29.31%) reside in the province of Madrid, followed by the other provinces with the highest volume of digital activity (Barcelona 9.12%, Valencia 5.68% and Seville 4.83% of the analyzed market share).
It also highlights that the gap with respect to to other provinces of Castile (Soria 0.19%, Zamora 0.21% and Cuenca 0.23%) and Ceuta and Melilla (0.08% and 0.01% respectively) and that all of them have lost digital representation in the last 5 years.
Why does the digital consumer complain?
The main reason that leads Spanish digital consumers to complain is some logistical incident, among which the delay in the delivery of products stands out with 31.98% of cases, followed by the erroneous or incomplete delivery of orders with 15, 53% The exercise of guarantees ranks third with 13.40%, having experienced an increase of 120.96% in the last five years. In fourth place, consumers report incidents with the exercise of the right of withdrawal with 9.95% and the cancellation of orders by the online store due to an error in the purchase prices with 9.57%. This last reason has decreased by 60% since 2018.
As a solution, in 49.01% of cases the consumer has opted for refund the full amount. “During these five years, the mediation of Confianza Online in claims in digital purchases has allowed consumers to recover 1.5 million euros related to 5,599 online purchases”says Tiziana Tallaro, General Director of Confianza Online.
