New Research Shows Online “Daypart” Shopping Patterns For Men & Women.

New research from The Media Audit shows 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. to be the most popular “daypart” among online shoppers who made 12 or more purchases during the past year.

“The data shows online shoppers generally get started at 8 a.m. and keep shopping until 10 p.m. with just a slight slowdown around the lunch hour,” says Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, Inc., a 34-year-old market research firm which produces The Media Audit. “At 10 p.m. there is a serious decline in online purchasing and at midnight it is even more pronounced,” adds Jordan.

The most recent research by The Media Audit zeroes in on the Internet: who uses it and when they use it. The data shows distinctive “daypart” patterns by gender, age, affluence, lifestyle, education, employment and dozens of other indices.

The collective adult population of the 87 metropolitan markets surveyed regularly by The Media Audit exceeds 137 million: 93.9 million logged on during an average month and 21.4 million made 12 or more purchases during the past year, 41.2 million made 5 or more purchases and 68.6 million made at least one purchase.

More than 48.3 million logged on at work and 85.3 million logged on at home. Of those who said they logged on at the office, 29.1 percent or 14.1 million said they made 12 or more purchases during the year. Among those who said they logged on at home, 23.8 percent or 20.3 million made 12 or more purchases.

Internet Shopping

“As recently as three years ago, some in the industry were speculating that consumers might be developing reservations about shopping online,” says Jordan, “but that hasn’t been the case. Internet shopping is growing rapidly among adults.” The Media Audit does not measure media habits of those under the age of 18.

Affluence has a very definite impact on Internet shopping. Slightly more than 18 percent of those earning $35,000 to $49,999 made 12 or more purchases. Twenty-one percent of those earning $50,000 to $74,999 also made 12 or more purchases as did 25.7 percent of those earning $75,000 to $99,999. Thirty-four percent of those with incomes of $100,000 to $149,999 also made 12 or more purchases and 45.1 percent of those earning $150,000 or more also made 12 or more purchases.”

Age groupings of those who made 12 or more purchases on the Internet were much more revealing than were the income figures. Just 9.7 percent of the 12-time purchasers were under the age of 25 while 52.4 percent were between the ages of 25 to 44.

Daypart Data

When internet dayparts are examined we find that 30.2 percent of men who logged on between 8 and 11 a.m. made 12 or more purchases in the past year. That 30.2 percent increases to 31.3 percent between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then declined to 28.1 between 1 and 6 p.m. The decline continues to 27.6 percent between 6 and 10 p.m. and then increases to 32.0 percent between 10 p.m. and midnight. And – between midnight and 8 a.m. 35.9 percent of the men who access during this daypart made 12 or more purchases.

Females who made 12 or more purchases during the past year have numbers lower than the males but the numbers track in a very similar trend. Of the women who logged on between 8 and 11 a.m., 25.4 percent made 12 or more purchases. That 25.4 percent trends up slightly to 25.7 percent between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then down to 24.1 percent between 1 and 6 p.m. It’s at 24.2 percent from 6 to 10 p.m. and then climbs to 26.2 percent between 10 p.m. and midnight and moves up to 30.2 percent between midnight and 8 a.m.

The daypart examples offered here, says Jordan,“ are simply a glimpse of the volume of data that has been compiled to produce an understanding of dayparts and what they mean to advertisers. The dayparts can be determined not just for males and females who make 12 or more purchases but also for males by age, employment, lifestyle, income and hundreds of other indices.”

“Even the percentage of the adult population accessing the Internet regularly continues to grow,” says Jordan, “we thought it would top out around 70 percent, but three metropolitan markets now have adult Internet access rates over 80 percent and 36 that have surpassed 70 percent. Collectively the 87 markets have an access rate exceeding 68 percent and the trends indicate that the access rate will continue to grow.”

For more information at http://www.TheMediaAudit.com