I Report Main Findings: 2nd Quarter 2014

June leads the rise of online purchases, with an increase of 10.2%

Hotels’ bookings record an impressive increase, reaching 14.7%

Cyprus Airways ‘overflies’ the other Cypriot eshops, with 11.1%

The results of the second quarter of 2014 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 second quarter of 2014 with June recording the highest buying traffic of the quarter with 64.9% and an increase of 10.2% in comparison to the corresponding quarter of 2013. The remaining months followed a similar pattern with May recording 55.2% and an increase of 6.8% and April with 49.9 % and an increase of 8.9%.

The overall online purchases recorded an increase of 1.4% in comparison to the previous quarter, reaching 34.2%. Compared with the second quarter of 2013 the increase was 1.6%.

The I Report recorded that the 12% of all online purchases of the second quarter of 2014 were conducted via Tablet, 22.6% were made from a mobile phone and the 85.8% from a computer.

"The findings of the second quarter of 2014 showed a substantial rise of the online shopping compared not only to the corresponding period of 2013 but also to the previous quarter, refraining slightly from the highest levels of all times." said Nicholas Nicholaou, Director of Evresis.

Regarding the categories and types of products purchased online, the I Report recorded:
- As first, the ‘Clothing’ Category with 42.1% and an increase of 1.2% from the previous quarter, with ‘Sportswear’ rising to 70.2% and ‘Work Wear’ reducing to 48.1%
- As second, the category ‘Flight Tickets’ with 23.4% and an increase of 5.7%
- As third, the Category ‘Hotels’ with 21.7% and an impressive rise of 14.7%
- As fourth, the Category ‘Travels’ with 18.9% and a significant increase of 8.5%
- As fifth, the category ‘Cosmetics’ with 18.4% and a rise of 1%

Concerning the websites and online shops from where the purchases were made, the I Report recorded Ebay remaining constantly first with 59.9% and a slight increase of 0.2%. As second followed Amazon with 22.3% and an increase of 2.9% and as third Asos with 16.7% and a rise of 1.6%.

From the Cypriot eshops, Cyprus Airways climbed to 11.1% holding the highest percentage among the Cypriot eshops, whereas from the remaining eshops Booking.com followed with 9.2%, Hotels.com with 8.1% and Ryan Air with 7.5%.

"The second quarter of 2014 showed an enhancement of the purchasing power and confidence in the online purchases, especially in the sector of ‘Summer Holidays’ with ‘Hotels’ being the most obvious category, where alternatively most Cypriots end up." said Pericles Ellinas, CEO of ImarComms.