(i) 76% of Internet users have shopped online
According to the Colombian Chamber of Electronic Commerce, 76% of Colombian Internet users have purchased at least one product or one online service online. Among them, clothing, electronic products and food are the most popular products; online services include travel, activities and telecommunications.
(ii) Online shopping on computers is still the mainstream
A survey and analysis report released by Picodi, a Colombian online shopping website, pointed out that although the development of global mobile e-commerce is getting faster and faster, Colombian consumers still like to use computers to shop online. In order to cope with the rapid development of e-commerce, cross-border sellers need to better understand consumers’ purchasing habits in order to make appropriate countermeasures. For example, the number of Colombians who use computers to shop is the largest around 11 am, while those who use mobile devices such as smartphones to shop mostly place orders between 8 and 10 pm.
However, the devices used by consumers have changed in the past three years. The proportion of shopping with laptops has dropped from 97% to 94%, the proportion of mobile phones has increased from 30% to 49%, and the proportion of shopping with tablets has dropped from 32% to 26%. These changes indicate that more users browse shopping websites through smartphones every day, but they do not necessarily complete the purchase on their phones, but transfer to computers to complete the payment.
(III) Women and young people are more willing to shop online
Colombian female consumers are more inclined to shop online than male consumers. Data shows that the number of online transactions conducted by female consumers in Colombia accounts for 61% of the total number, while male consumers account for only 39%. In addition, 62% of consumers are between 18 and 34 years old; 19% of consumers are between 35 and 44 years old; Colombian consumers aged 45 to 54 only account for 10% of the number of online shoppers.
(IV) The average consumption amount is higher during the peak shopping season
November and December of each year are the peak shopping season for Colombian consumers. The number of online shopping orders placed by consumers during this period accounts for 36% of the total annual orders; September and October, the number of online shopping orders placed by Colombian consumers is relatively small, which is the off-season for online shopping. If calculated based on the average monthly consumption of consumers, the average consumption amount in March, April and November is the highest, while other months are relatively low. Clothing, travel services, children’s products, food and books are the most popular categories of goods that Colombians like to buy online.
(V) Strong demand for pet products
Colombia has more than 5 million pets. Pets travel and exercise with their owners, have their own social network pages, eat organic food, sleep on luxurious beds, and even consume expensive high-end products. The results of the study show that 72% of Colombian respondents have pets at home. The most favorite pet of Colombians is dogs, with 69% saying they would choose dogs as companions, followed by cats (21%). On average, 68% of Colombians buy food for their pets every month, spending between 57,000 and 170,000 pesos. The favorite shopping place is the supermarket, and some people also go to specialty stores or online stores to buy.