I Report Main Findings: 1st Quarter 2015

Slight rise of online purchases compared to 1st Quarter of 2014

Most purchases were conducted by the ages 35-44

Steady upward trend for small eshops

Air carriers fly on the 3rd place

The results of the first quarter of 2015 of the subscription tool for measuring and analyzing online shopping in Cyprus - the I Report - were announced today by Evresis Research and Interactive Marketing Services Company, ImarComms.

The I Report tracked the online behavior of the Cypriot consumer for the first quarter of 2015, with March recording the highest buying traffic of the quarter with 53.3%, with 2.6% decrease from the corresponding quarter of 2014. The I Report recorded February as the second month on online purchases with 47.8% and January as the third with 45%.

Overall, the online purchases reached 33.1%, recording a slight increase of 0.3% from the corresponding quarter of 2014.

The I Report recorded a constant increase in the use of Mobile Phone for conducting online purchases from 26.2% of the previous quarter to 28.8% for both genders, with consumers aging 35 to 44 making the most use. Also, increase was recorded on purchases made via Tablet from 17.9% to 21.3%. The 90.5% of the online purchases were conducted from home and the 11.5% from the office.

"The results of the first quarter of 2015 show a steady increase of the online purchases with consumers aging between 35 and 44 buying more," said Nicholas Nicholaou, Director of Evresis.

Concerning the categories and types of products purchased online, the I Report recorded:
• As first the ‘Clothing’ category with 44.7% and a decrease of 3.8%, with ‘Work Wear’ reducing to 34.5% and ‘Sportswear’ rising to 78.1%
• As second the category ‘Hotels’ with 32.3% and an increase of 2.8%
• As third the category ‘Cosmetics’ with 24.2% and a rise of 3.3%
• As fourth the category ‘Footwear’ with 20.7% and an increase of 1.7%

Regarding the websites and online shops from where the purchases were conducted, the I Report recorded as first Ebay with 64% and an increase of 5.3%, as second Amazon with 21.6% and a decrease of 3.7%, and as third Ryan Air with 14.1% and a rise of 3.6%. Aegean follows with 11% and Asos with 10.4%. Also, from the other online shops, the I Report recorded in the Top Ten amongst others - Feel Unique with 9.2% and Hotels.com with 7.8%.

"The I Report recorded an interesting upward course of smaller online shops and for the first time we saw Air carriers flying on the first places overcoming classic retail shops such as Asos, taking also advantage of the Cyprus Airways’ share», said Pericles Ellinas, CEO of ImarComms.