Women out-shop men online for first time in ’05 holiday season, study says

[Kristijntje]

For the first time, more women than men purchased holiday gift items online,
transforming the Internet from a predominantly male-oriented buying platform into the
“Internette.” Women out-shopped men in every age category, including 75% of women
in the 31-40 age group who say the Internet is their preferred purchasing method. As a
result of this, many online retailers must now consider transforming themselves from
male-oriented “hunter” sites to female-oriented “gatherer” sites that provide a richer
online purchasing experience.

Large numbers of potential buyers (more than 70%, both men and women) continue to
abandon online shopping carts before they complete the purchase process.

download the full survey here (free registration required, .PDF file): http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/32490/rep...rvices.asp

The survey cited shopping cart abandonment rates as Internet retailers "single biggest challenge".  The top 5 reasons given for cart abandonment were: the buyer was comparison shopping, high shipping costs, "didn't have time"  to complete the purchase "at that time", out of stock products. and "uncomfortable with the buying process".

Shoppers also cited shipping costs and delivery times as major problems.  Buyers regard Internet stores as "less customer-focused than traditional retailers".  2/3 of shoppers 41-70 said they prefer online shopping over regular stores but only 57% of 18-30 year olds prefer online shopping.

Convenience was the #1 reason given for shopping online.

Those surveyed ranked socks as the "Worst Holiday Gift" 

[bargainbloodhound]

I'm an idiot (uh oh, I called myself an idiot, a moderator will probably give me a Tulip Slap and pull this post). I thought more users in the 18-30 group than the 41-70 age bracket would prefer shopping online.

Summing up the report in one sentence: stop ignoring the needs and preferences of older shoppers and female shoppers when you design your online stores

"didn't have time"  to complete the purchase "at that time",

It would have been nice if the report had given a little more detail on this reason.  Does it mean the buyer thought the checkout process was a time consuming PITA, or does it mean the doorbell rang?