the year 2021 was marked by adaptation and learning in many terms, from how to relate to each other in a post-COVID opening environment, going through the new situations when going to the office or shopping. In this, e-commerce has been a key ally for users and for commerce, with a boom which began in 2020 and has not stopped growing.
In fact, according to the latest study carried out by the idealo.es price comparison site, in 2021 65% of Spaniards bought at least two online products per month. From this percentage of respondents we found that the Castilian-Leonese lead the top 3 with said monthly frequency (two online purchases), followed by the Andalusians and Galicians.
Likewise, according to the analysis, 21% of those who responded assure that they bought at least one product a week on the Internet and, within that percentage, the citizens of Castile-La Mancha and Catalonia swith those who bought the most, with 25% and 25.4%, respectively.
Breaking down the data by age, the price comparison study shows that the millennial generation (24 to 40 years old) has been the most adept at making use of the internet to purchase their desired products, and the women of this generation are the main supporters of electronic commerce. Similarly, the generation that least embraced this practice during a year of openings was the most senior, those 55 and older.
The analysis also reveals that the pocket of the users has more and more relevance when choosing between one product and another, in an environment of pandemic and inflation. In this way, more than half, 56%, of those surveyed responded that when they make purchases online, they usually do so in lesser-known establishments with the aim of saving money, a practice that is growing slightly compared to the year 2020.
Another curious fact collected in the study is that Sunday afternoons are the time chosen by the Spanish to make purchases online, leaving in second place to Mondays, both in the time slot of 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.. Likewise, at a European level, Sunday is repeated as the favorite for online trading, but the hours vary: the French search at 6:00 p.m., while the Austrians and Germans at 8:00 p.m., and at 9:00 p.m. they join the “virtual shopping tour” the Italians together with the British. In this tour, Android operating system devices stand out as the preferred ones to search for products, with the exception of the United Kingdom, which opts for iOS.
Social networks, the new catalog of Spanish stores
In the digital age, social networks have become the showcase for digital commerce par excellence, regardless of the size of the company. Thus, users are accustomed to receive promotions that offer exactly the product they are looking for. According to the study, respondents indicated that YouTube was the platform they used the most during 2021, followed by the social network Facebook and Instagram, while compared to 2020, the use of TikTok among these users has increased by 14%. .
Like every year, idealo has made a ranking with top ten most wanted products online by Spaniards during the previous year. This time, in 2021, the list exposes a balance between healthy living and technology. Thus, the products of the category fitness and outdoor activities, such as sneakers, running shoes, climbing boots or motorcycle helmets, go hand in hand with mobile technology, televisions and smart watches.
“The x-ray of e-commerce in 2021 shows how Spaniards are increasingly entrenched in the concept of online shopping, whether for convenience or for a variety of options, and are looking for products to satisfy different needs”affirms Adrián Amorín, country manager of idealo.es, and adds “With this study, we see that a good part of users make purchases online at least once a month, which shows that this 2022 will be a new opportunity for businesses to offer competitive prices in order to capture the attention of the online shopper, adapting to the circumstances of each month”.
