Corona restrictions have changed the way students use e-commerce. They both shop more and have greater width of purchases compared to before. These are two of the findings from our latest Mecenat Insights that we recently conducted to learn more about students’ changing behavior around e-commerce.
In our latest Mecenat Insights, 40 percent of the students’ state that they have increased their shopping online now compared to before the corona restrictions and 22 percent have broadened their purchases and shop a wider variety of products compared to before.
We asked the students what their online purchases looked like before the restrictions and the list is topped by travel and various events, along with books and clothes. Food comes way down on that list.
When we asked what type of products the students have started shopping more of after the corona restrictions, it is clothing and beauty products that increase the most. They are then followed, a little unexpectedly, by food that climbs strongly and is the product category that pinches third place in the list of largest increase. Admittedly from a low level, but perhaps we can see the breakthrough here for buying food online by the students.
From our own web statistics, we can see a very large general increase in online purchases. All our product categories, except travel and entertainment, have increased significantly due to the restrictions. As we previously reported, Mecenat’s e-commerce increased by almost 50 percent during the third quarter this year.
At the same time, there are many who miss being crammed into physical stores to try, feel and see in real life, the things they are interested in. Squeezing and feeling is stated by 45 percent of the students as the biggest advantage of shopping in a store, while 35 percent state the delivery times as the most important advantage, that they get their goods when they have paid. 12 percent appreciate the service they receive from the staff and state it as the main reason to shop over the counter in a store.
1,534 students responded to the survey conducted in October 2020.
