Men and E-commerce

Who are the shoppers driving the trends of buying online and on mobile devices? 

More than 198 million U.S. consumers bought something online, according to comScore’s quarterly State Of Retail report. That translates to 78% of the U.S. population age 15 and above.

Retailers know how important it is to know who their potential customers are online in order to market to them effectively. But now with mobile technology advancing at lightning speed, and online shopping being more popular than ever before, men are taking the lead in this traditionally female dominated activity.

Research found:

Women drive shopping trends has been the conventional wisdom and because they control up to 80% of household spending it is easy to understand why. But, when it comes to e-commerce, men drive nearly as much spending online in the U.S. as women.

Men are more likely to make purchases on mobile devices. In a study conducted by SeeWhy fifty-seven percent of women made a purchase online in 2013, compared to 52% of men. However 22% of men made a purchase on their smart phones last year, compared to 18% of women.

Millennials aged 18 to 34 remain the key age demographic for online commerce. They currently spend more money online in a given year than any other age group about $2,000 annually on e-commerce. Despite the fact they typically have lower incomes than older adults.

Baby Boomers and seniors despite being over the age of 55 have adopted mobile commerce. In fact, one in four mobile shoppers in the U.S. that age threshold roughly even with their share of the overall U.S. population.

An Experian survey found that 55% of e-commerce shoppers in the U.S. live in households with incomes above $75,000 (40% were in households earning $100,000 and above). The median household income in the U.S. is around $50,000, according to the Census