More Regional Australians Shopping Online
25 September 2006 at 1:09 pm
New research reveals that more regional Australians are moving online in search of everyday items – another reason why Not for Profits can benefit from being visible online.
According to ACNielsen the number of regional Australians shopping online has increased 17% from 2005 to 2006, with nearly 1.5 million regional Australians now shopping online.
Online shopping is also becoming easier for people based in rural areas with 62% of regional Australians connected to the Internet now using broadband.
Research commissioned by online auction place eBay in Australia reveals that 75% of regional and rural Australians shopping online believe that convenience of purchasing everyday items on the internet, closely followed by financial (73%) and time (70%) are the major benefits to buying online.
Some 49% of regional Australians agree that limited choice of products is one of the main disadvantages of living outside of the cities.
Now 33% of rural Australians are moving online to websites like eBay to purchase items such as clothing, shoes, DVDs, computer equipment, toys,collectables and sporting goods.
eBay Australia spokesperson, Angie Cursley says one third of all Australians live in regional or rural areas and have less choice than people living in metropolitan areas, in addition to having to travel further for everyday items found easily in major cities.
According to Australia Post, the trend for an increasing number of people in rural communities buying items on eBay and other online sites has seen a steady rise in domestic parcel volumes, including a 3-5% per annum growth in recent years.
State-by-state comparison from eBay’s research shows that choice is a major benefit to 92% of rural and regional SA residents, 61% of those in VIC and TAS, 53% in NSW and 49% in QLD and WA.
78% of regional and rural SA dwellers, 75% of those in VIC and TAS, 63% in NSW and 54% in QLD believe that buying online helps them source the exact item they’re looking for.
Using eBay as a major fundraising source featured in a recent edition of Pro Bono Australia. The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children revealed that it had added eBay to its regular fundraising activities – with the added benefit of driving more traffic to its own website.
RIDBC is now using eBay to auction everyday items which would normally be sold via its opportunity shop or book fair.
Lorraine O’Keefe from the Australia Koala Foundation in Brisbane has recently begun using eBay to raise funds and Sancha Donald from Accessible Arts in NSW says her organisation sees the online sales as a way of not having to run events such as celebrity auctions.
