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More Minorities Shop Online

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The results of a new study by International Demographics have revealed how the number of purchases made online has increased sharply in US minority groups.

Among African-Americans, 40.6 per cent shop online – an increase of 13.5 per cent in five years. More than one in five make five or more online purchases per year and over one in 10 make more than twelve purchases.

A similar number of Hispanics (41.8 per cent) now also shop online, compared to 27.7 per cent five years ago. Nearly one quarter of Hispanics make five or more purchases online per year and 12.3 per cent make a dozen or more purchases.

Asian Americans however, showed much more inclination to shop online. Five years ago, 55.8 per cent shopped online. The latest figures show that 70 per cent now but products from the Internet – an increase of 14.2 per cent. Nearly half (46 per cent) of those surveyed made more than five purchases and one in four made 12 purchases or more.

Overall, the total number of adults shopping online has increased 11 per cent in the last five years with 55 per cent now making purchases online.
The survey by the Texas-based research group surveyed 88 markets with a total adult population of around 145 million. 58 million of which are members of a minority group.

According to Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics Inc the number of minorities shopping online should make marketers re-evaluate their marketing plans in order to target these groups more effectively. “As a result of their numbers, their increasing tendency to shop online is very significant to most marketers,” said Jordan.

Minority groups are realising that the power of the Internet has resulted in greater – and more diverse – choices.

"This isn’t about ethnic minorities, or even about people in a disability or health minority. This is about the general ability of the Internet to cater brilliantly to niche interests of any kind,” said Paul Dawson, head of interactive media at Conchango.

“Whether it’s gluten-free beer, halal meat, or even specialist balsa-wood glue, the breadth of e-commerce available on the web, and the lack of international boundaries for the shipping of products, means that niche is the future,”

However, Dawson is surprised that many shops are still not refocusing their efforts online.

“This kind of niche merchandising however is expensive and risky. What if the audience they are targeting do not come in and prefer to shop at smaller stores that cater better to their needs? The Internet is the answer. There are none of these concerns online. The big question to retailers is why aren’t they extending their ranges online? Their stores are merchandised to cope with what is ‘normal’ on the high street, but there may be niche products that they may only sell significant volumes of online," he said.

According to Nadeem Azam, marketing manager of cash back site, eDealsUK, the Internet is also fostering the community spirit prevalent in minority groups. This has seen an increasing influence of social networks upon purchase decisions, especially in the UK.

“Social networking sites are also having more of an influence on minorities. Groups such as British Asians are more homogeneous than the mainstream population and there is more of a sense of cohesion and trust within such communities. This leads to a greater propensity to shop based on peer recommendations,” he said.

Marketers should be catering for different groups if it is to communicate their brand messages more effectively.

“Instead of a utilising a single marketing message to attract shoppers from all communities, online businesses should hone their advertising and social networking penetration. The marketing message should be geared towards particular ethic groups.

When consumers visit the website, sections should be set-up to make them feel at ease. The ISP PlusNet, which was purchased by BT, has a specific section on their website in Polish. By not catering for the several hundred thousand Polish people in the UK in the way that PlusNet is, businesses are losing out on desperately-needed customers,” said Azam.