Estonian heavy shoppers are much more active than regular shoppers. While a regular online shopper makes an average purchase once a month, a heavy shopper has made at least four purchases. According to DPD's e-commerce study, Estonian heavy shoppers made an average of six purchases per month last year. Despite long-term inflation and the economic downturn in Estonia, the share of heavy shoppers among all online shoppers has remained stable in terms of both the number of purchases and the frequency of purchases. Last year, the share of online shopping enthusiasts remained at the same level, having increased by one percentage point compared to the previous year. "Heavy shoppers, or the most frequent shoppers, are also the most price-aware. Their specialty is finding the best offers, paying attention to campaigns, noticing good prices and reacting quickly. There are also many impulse buyers among them – almost a quarter of the supershoppers who participated in the DPD study admitted that their last purchase was made on impulse,” explains Jaanek Kivimurd, Head of Sales and Marketing at DPD Eesti. While Estonian supershoppers order an average of six parcels per month (a year earlier, this figure was five parcels), in Europe this figure is seven. “Nevertheless, the share of the most active e-commerce customers in Estonia is higher than the European average, which indicates that Estonians are more price-sensitive. This is confirmed by the fact that 68% of the surveyed online shoppers consider price to be the most important criterion when making a purchase,” Kivimurd noted. Over the year, the share of people who look for discounts in online stores and plan their purchases during promotions has increased by ten percent. In 2023, Estonian supershoppers made up 22.1% of all regular online shoppers in Estonia, and they made the vast majority – 57% of all online purchases. The number of e-commerce enthusiasts has remained stable over the year, but the volume of parcels they ordered has increased. Shoes and cosmetics are the most popular, while fresh food and drinks are losing popularity In the ranking of product category preferences among Estonian supershoppers, shoes are the top (71%), followed by cosmetics and health products (71%), and food products are in third place (63%). In Europe, fashion is the most popular category, while in Estonia this category is only in fifth place. Last year, footwear (+22%), cosmetics and health products (+17%), and pharmacy products and medicines (+21%) increased as popular categories among supershoppers. At the same time, the fresh food and drink category has decreased by 13% over the year. Among online shopping enthusiasts, 59% always look for very good deals, and 69% believe that price is the most important factor when making a purchase decision. 62% of them believe that online shopping saves money. At the same time, 32% of them are willing to pay a high price for quality goods. A quarter also attaches importance to environmental and sustainability issues of both the goods and the supply chain. In Europe, on average, the topic of environmental and sustainability is more important to supershoppers – 45% consider it important. Supershoppers are motivated to make purchases by various factors, of which free delivery is the most important. It is followed by delivery speed (23%), no hidden fees (22%), quality of product description texts (22%), flexible payment methods (21%) and the possibility of free returns (20%). According to Kivimurda, the DPD Eesti e-commerce study shows that shoppers in the Estonian e-commerce market are active, informed, but price-sensitive. “Low prices, free delivery, and fast and convenient shopping are of great importance. A characteristic feature of e-commerce both in Estonia and in Europe is still the availability of certain products in the assortment, which is an opportunity for online stores to better predict the volumes of their promotional products,” he said. Read RusDelfi wherever you like. Follow us on Facebook, Telegram, Instagram and even TikTok.
