Average of 34% of consumers in leading economies buy more online in winter

NEW YORK — A survey conducted in eight world markets during the latter half of January 2015 revealed insights on online purchasing habits of consumers in winter. The survey was jointly carried out with One Hour Translation and Google Consumer Surveys and was based on a sample of 800 respondents — 100 from each of the following countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan. 

Thirty-four percent of the participants reported that they purchase more online in winter than at other times of the year. Forty-four percent of Canadian respondents said they buy online more heavily in January and February; the United Kingdom came in second place, with 43% of consumers buying more online in winter.

In the United States and the Netherlands, 36% of consumers said they purchased more online in winter; in Australia, 34% purchase more, followed by (in descending order) 32% in Germany, 27% in Japan and 23% in Italy.

One Hour Translation says the survey reveals that consumers around the globe take strategic approaches to seasonal online purchases. An average of 80% of consumers realize that the Christmas shopping season — which peaks in November and December — is not necessarily the optimal time to shop online. Instead, these consumers wait for New Year’s sales. 

“The results of our new survey are extremely clear: companies selling online are well advised to concentrate their efforts in increasing online sales in the first quarter of the year, immediately after the Christmas period,” said Ofer Shoshan, co-Founder and CEO of One Hour Translation. “Furthermore, organizations which concentrate their Internet sales efforts in January and February will be rewarded with numerous opportunities resulting from the preference of huge number of consumers to buy online at that time of year. In addition, our survey in late 2014, which found that consumers have a distinct preference for shopping online in their native language, indicates that one of the most effective ways of achieving sales growth at any time of year is to localize sales websites in the language of the target buyers."