OREANDA-NEWS. December 10, 2009. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted an online survey of more than 2,000 respondents in 11 cities of over o million people to identify main trends in consumer internet behaviour, reported the press-centre of PwC.

According to the survey findings, 26% of respondents are ready for social media to become the main channel of communication about special offers, discounts and new products of retail chains/producers.

Globally, social networks are accumulating tremendous consumer traffic. The audience has shifted from the youth market to a broader range of demographic groups. Businesses, including retailer and consumer companies, have to reconsider their position, shifting focus towards social networks as a new channel of marketing communication. Companies are now busy developing various strategies to ensure that they have a social media presence. In this context, online marketing players need to understand the extent of Russian consumers’ readiness to accept social networks in this new quality, as well as their attitude towards online advertising and shopping.

Despite some optimistic improvements in the consumer confidence index in Q3 2009, Russian consumers have shown low readiness to increase spending in the next 12 months. According to PwC survey, the majority of respondents cite travel and entertainment as the most popular categories to cut-back in spending in the year ahead.  Over a third (38%) of respondents plan to further reduce expenses on travel, and 33% of them are going to cut back on outside entertainment including cinema, theatre, concerts and restaurants. A quarter of consumers surveyed intend to lower expenditure level on consumer electronics next year.

Goods on which over half of respondents plan to keep expenses at the same level include groceries (65%), cosmetics and beauty care (59%) and books, periodicals, CD/DVD (57%). Meanwhile, 42% of consumers surveyed are ready to increase spending on home improvements, apparel and footwear (39%) and groceries (26%) in the next 12 months.

 According to the survey, almost all respondents regularly spend online time on searching for information or e-mail communication. Almost three quarters of them (73%) cited that they usually access the Internet for social networking – the third most popular result followed by instant messaging. The survey also revealed high readiness of Russian consumers to purchase online, with about 80% of respondents reporting that they have made at least one purchase over the Internet. For respondents whose monthly income is above RUB 25,000, this figure reached 90%.

The survey shows that only 20% of consumers use their credit cards to pay for online purchases. The most widespread method of payment (preferred by 59% of respondents) is “cash on delivery”, and nearly half of consumers surveyed use online money transfer.

In the decision-making process, online shoppers tend to rely on personal recommendations from people they know or recommendations of other users. Consumers’ choice is least of all affected by online advertising (only 18% of respondents). Compared to other age groups, middle-aged consumers are more inclined to trust search results rather than personal recommendations. People with monthly income of over RUB 25,000 make decisions after speaking to friends and acquaintances, and then studying online consumer opinions.

Context ad in search results leads among consumers as the main way they prefer to get online advertising – 42% of respondents voted for it. Young respondents (aged 18 – 25) are even more loyal to e-mail marketing than context advertising (39% against 36%).

Almost 60% of consumers surveyed still prefer to examine goods in person before buying anything, and nearly as many respondents have concerns about the condition of goods delivered and difficulties associated with their return. 

Benefits of making purchases online compared to traditional shopping include saving time (74%), home delivery services (65%), possibility to avoid offline shops crowds (61%) and ability to shop 24 hours a day (58%). For cities except Moscow and St Petersburg, finding something that is not available locally was recognised as one of the key benefits of online retailing.