Irish women favour flying over fashion


3 Dec 2007

Online shopping habits, as observed by voucher payment company 3V, reveal that Irish women prefer to go hunting for bargains on flights and music instead of fashion and food unlike their UK counterparts.

3V found that the top destinations for the 16,000 plus male and female shoppers overall using their online shopping vouchers were Ryanair.com and iTunes.com, while the top two for women were Ryanair again and UK-based online retailer Amazon.co.uk.

After these sites, the most visited were Play.com, Aer Lingus and eBay.ie.

On the other hand it was found that British women preferred to visit the online homes of supermarket chains Tesco and Asda as well as high-street clothing store Next.

Federica Bonato, head of marketing, 3V Transactions, UK and Ireland, said: “It is interesting to note the difference between our Irish and UK customers – Irish women seem to prefer the bustle of shopping on the high street while their UK counterparts seem more inclined to opt for virtual shopping.

“The online shopping industry is also more mature in the UK and gives consumers better choices online, as is reflected in our findings.

“However, anecdotally we know that many Irish consumers are using the internet for price comparisons and, depending on the price differential, decide whether to shop online or to purchase on the hgh street.”

The big spenders, says 3V, are women in the 21-25 age group, who spend on average between €40 and €50 per month, a figure which increases considerably in the pre- and post-Christmas shopping rush of November and January.

While Irish women seem to prefer buying their flights, music and movies online they have firm favourites when it comes to sourcing their party dress on the web.

The top five sites for seasonal clothes shopping as voted for by users of 3V vouchers are: Asos.com, Freemans, Next, Abercrombie and American Eagle.

Bonato added: “If people are shopping online for the first time we would warn them to order on time and to shop only at reputable sites.

“If an online merchant is new to you, research the company before committing to a purchase. 3V vouchers are the safer way of shopping online this Christmas.”

By Marie Boran