Report: Hispanics Shop Online More Frequently and Earlier in the Holiday Season

Hispanic adults are shopping online more frequently than the online population, and they are shopping earlier during the holiday season this year, according to Heather Dougherty, research director at Experian Marketing Services.

Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, targeting and cross-channel marketing, released a new Hispanic shopping analysis that shows Hispanic adults are more frequently visiting retailer Websites than the average online population. During a 24-week period from June 2013 through November 2013, Hispanics’ market share of visits to Experian Marketing Services’ Hitwise® Retail 500 Websites was 21% higher on average than the online population. What’s more, the report found that this market share widened in October 2013 and continued to increase through November.

Websites most frequently visited by Hispanic shoppers mirror the online population led by Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Target.com. But the report shows that smartphones are clearly a key shopping tool for Hispanic consumers.

Dougherty told Loyalty 360 that retailers that win this highly influential and socially active consumer will be those with savvy mobile strategies and cross-channel execution capabilities.

“We knew that Hispanics as a demographic segment are digital savvy consumers, but we didn’t expect to see above average usage and ownership across all screens,” Dougherty said. “It was also interesting to see that while Hispanic smartphone owners are more likely to visit mobile shopping websites, their use of shopping apps overall is only average. This highlights a potential whitespace opportunity, one where we could see more activity and more investment from marketers in the upcoming year.”

The study revealed that 54% of Hispanic smartphone owners visit shopping sites from their mobile browser during a typical month and they spend more time browsing those sites than non-Hispanic smartphone owners. Hispanic adults are visiting department store mobile websites more frequently than non-Hispanics. In the past 30 days, Macys.com leads this trend as the most over-indexing shopping site visited by Hispanic smartphone owners from their mobile phones.

“We get a lot of questions from our clients about Hispanic consumers,” Dougherty explained. “As marketers, they are interested to better understand this influential and growing demographic and then improve their engagement strategies. Heading into the holiday season, we saw that Hispanic web users were visiting retailer websites more frequently than the average online population and decided to dig a little deeper into the ‘why’ behind that trend. Experian Marketing Services regularly surveys Hispanic adults through our syndicated Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study and that attitudinal insight was a great complement to the holiday retail data.”  

 

Here are some key findings in the report:

Hispanic adults are more interested in mobile ads and more likely to purchase products that are advertised on mobile devices 
Hispanic adults who own smartphones are twice as likely as non-Hispanics to say that they are interested in receiving advertisements on their phone and 58% more likely to purchase products they see advertised on their phone. Hispanic adults who own smartphones are 13% more likely than non-Hispanics to say that they often use their mobile phone while shopping to find local deals.

Hispanic adults are more likely to visit mobile shopping Websites but app usage is only average 
Interestingly, the analysis found that while Hispanic smartphone owners are more likely to visit mobile shopping Websites, their use of shopping apps overall is only average – 37% of Hispanic smartphone owners use a shopping app on their phones during a typical month, compared with 38% of non-Hispanic smartphone owners.

Hispanic adults access social media more frequently, across more devices 
Hispanic social media users access social media more frequently than non-Hispanics. In fact, 69% access social media at least once a day, compared with 62% of non-Hispanics. During a typical week, Hispanic social media users are more likely than non-Hispanics to access social media properties via many devices, including gaming consoles (index 121 versus non-Hispanics), MP3 players (index 118), smartphone Web browsers (index 117), smartphone apps (index 112) and digital tablet apps (index 103, despite lower tablet ownership rates among Hispanics). However, Hispanic social media users are less likely than average to access social media through a PC either at work (index 84) or at home (index 80).

Hispanic social media users are more likely to follow brands
Hispanic social media users also are 6% more likely than non-Hispanics to follow companies and brands on social media and 30% more likely to say that they are likely to purchase products that they see advertised on social media properties.

The findings of the analysis include the following:

Hispanic adults are more interested in mobile ads and more likely to purchase products that are advertised on mobile devices 
Hispanic adults who own smartphones are twice as likely as non-Hispanics to say that they are interested in receiving advertisements on their phone and 58% more likely to purchase products they see advertised on their phone. Hispanic adults who own smartphones are 13% more likely than non-Hispanics to say that they often use their mobile phone while shopping to find local deals.

Hispanic adults are more likely to visit mobile shopping Websites but app usage is only average 
Interestingly, the analysis found that while Hispanic smartphone owners are more likely to visit mobile shopping Websites, their use of shopping apps overall is only average – 37% of Hispanic smartphone owners use a shopping app on their phone during a typical month, compared with 38% of non-Hispanic smartphone owners.

“Hispanics fully embrace the concept of the ‘always on consumer’ and as such it’s critical that marketers are delivering to that need for resources and tools on-the-go,’’’ Dougherty added. “Engaging this influential demographic requires that retailers and marketers ensure that their websites are optimized for mobile and that they are also offering multiple language options for both websites and apps. Further, there is clearly an opportunity here to engage Hispanics on their mobile device which could translate to helping them navigate the in-store experience, particularly those for which English may not be their first language.”

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