Men drive the growth of internet shopping
Men rather than women are driving the rapid growth of internet retailing as they seek to avoid physical trips to shops, according to a new study of British attitudes to shopping on the web.
The old truism that many men are unfamiliar with the concept of "retail therapy" is borne out by the survey by the British Council of Shopping Centres.
Men still have a "hunter" approach to shopping, says the report, which will be released today at thegroup's annual meeting in Manchester.
That is, they have a specific idea of what they want and want to secure it as painlessly as possible. And doing so is often easier and quicker from behind a computer screen than in a busy high street or shopping mall.
"Men find it much more convenient and cost-efficient to shop on the internet than in shopping places and envisage that in future they will do more of their shopping on the internet," says the report.
"Women were at the opposite spectrum compared with men when it came to their future intentions. They were certainly not planning to do more shopping online, nor did they think it was more convenient to shop online."
While many British adults expect to spend 40 hours doing Christmas shopping they could do the same chores in just 10 hours online, says the report.
The news comes amid new evidence of the rapid encroachment of the internet into the public's shopping habits. Britons are expected to spend a record ￡7bn ($13.3bn) online in the run-up to Christmas day - double that for the same period of 2004 - according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group.
Asda, the UK subsidiary of Walmart of the US, yesterday said it would double the number of stores with internet services as it sought to keep pace with the change in customers' habits.
The BCSC report, carried out by Cushman & Wakefield, property agents, used a poll of more than 1,000 consumers, as well as interviews with 65 retailers and more than 100 developers and retail property investors.
The survey could ring alarm bells among investors as it suggests that internet sales could triple within a decade.
Retailers forecast that the proportion of their sales from the web could increase from 4.5 per cent at present to 14.7 per cent in 10 years' time - with some expecting the internet to account for more than half of trans-actions.
Some analysts have forecast that retailers may have less need for physical shops if they are selling more online.
As a result, there could be implications for pension funds, insurance companies and property companies, which are the biggest owners of Britain's malls.
This is particularly true given that developers are planning to build tens ofmillions of square feet of new retail space in the coming years.
Nearly half of respondents thought that the growth of e-tailing would have a negative impact on rental growth and capital values for small and medium-sized shopping centres.
The biggest and most attractive centres, however, would not suffer so much as they would still attract shoppers. Centres such as Bluewater and Lakeside near London have become popular attractions where families go to enjoy a day out.
Yet while e-tailing will never replace the shopping experience, the report says, there is still a clear divide between the sexes.
"Shopping is a social activity in the main, particularly for women who enjoy shopping for recreation," it says.
"Men consider it a necessity and often feelduty-bound when accompanying partners on shopping trips."
男人推动网上购物
一项关于针对英国人对于网上购物的态度所进行的最新研究表明，在推动互联网零售业快速增长方面，男性的作用比女性更大，因为他们总是想方设法避免逛商店。
英国购物中心协会(British Council of Shopping Centres)的这项调查，再次证实了一个古老的事实，即：许多男性不熟悉“购物疗法”(retail therapy)的概念。
报告指出，男性在购物方面仍在采用一种“猎人”方式。
就是说，他们对于自己想要什么有着明确想法，并且会尽可能轻松地买到。而在电脑屏幕之前购物，通常要比在繁忙的商业街或购物中心采购更为轻松和快捷。
报告指出：“男性发现，在互联网上购物，要比在商店购物方便、节省得多。他们预计，自己日后会把更多的购物任务放在网上完成。”
“在未来的打算方面，女性与男性完全相反。她们无疑不打算更多地进行在线购物，而且她们也不觉得在线购物更方便。”
报告指出，许多英国成年人预计会花费40小时进行圣诞节采购，但他们在网上仅用10小时就能完成同样的任务。
与此同时，有新的证据表明互联网迅速影响了公众的购物习惯。英国互动媒体零售集团(Interactive Media in Retail Group)指出，预计英国人在今年圣诞节前夕的在线消费将达到创纪录的70亿英镑（合133亿美元），是2004年同期的两倍。
美国沃尔玛(Wal-mart)的英国子公司阿斯达(Asda)昨日表示，为了跟上消费者习惯的变化，将把提供网上服务的商店数增加一倍。
英国购物中心协会的这份报告，是由地产代理机构高纬物业(Cushman & Wakefield)完成的。高纬物业对1000多名消费者进行了调查，同时还采访了65家零售商、100多家开发商和零售地产投资者。
这份调查可能会在投资者中鸣起警钟，因为它表明，互联网销售额在10年内可能会增长两倍。
零售商预测，10年之内，它们的网上销售额在销售总额中所占比例，可能会从目前的4.5%提高到14.7%――有些零售商甚至预计，网上交易所占比例可能会超过50%。
一些分析人士预测，如果零售商更多地进行在线销售，它们对有形商店的需求就会减少。
对于养老基金、保险公司和地产公司而言，这一趋势可能会给它们一些暗示，因为它们是英国一些购物中心的最大股东。
考虑到地产开发商正计划在未来几年内新建更多的商业场所，这一暗示尤为真切。
近半数受访者认为，电子零售的增加，对中小型购物中心的租金增长和资产价值会有不利影响。
然而，一些规模最大、最有吸引力的购物中心不会受太大影响，因为它们仍然能吸引购物者。像伦敦附近的Bluewater和Lakeside，这样的购物中心已经成为非常吸引人的热门去处，许多家庭都喜欢去那里玩上一天。
不过，报告指出，电子零售永远不会取代真正的购物体验，而在购物体验的认知上，两性之间仍然存在明显的差异。
报告指出：“购物主要是一种社会行为，对于那些把购物作为消遣的女性而言更是如此。”
“而男性则把购物当是一种生活必需品，在陪同女伴逛街购物时，常常怀有尽义务的感觉。”
