Despite more shoppers, Macau online spending has not increased from a year ago.
Median spending for the fourth quarter of last year was about MOP1000 (US$125), the same as the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) survey on information technology use in the household sector.
With 167,600 households online last year, the total number of internet users reached 499,900, up 0.8 and 6.2 per cent respectively. The average internet penetration rate was 81.6 per cent, while that for residents between 25 to 34 years reached 97.1 per cent.
Only about 75,800 internet users (15.2 per cent) say they shopped online during the year, compared to 62,300 online shoppers one year ago – growth of 21.7 per cent.
More than half of internet users surveyed say they primarily bought clothing, footwear and handbags online, amounting to 57,600 users, up 27.4 per cent year-on-year.
Those buying electronic products and travel services online jumped by 13.9 and 35.7 per cent to 9000 and 13,300, respectively.
DSEC figures show users’ median spending on electronic products during the last quarter of the year reached about MOP1100, a 2.2 per cent drop, while median spending on travel services was about MOP5000.
By far, most people surveyed (about 91.5 per cent) used the internet for communication, with about 61.3 per cent used it to search for information – up 1.1 and 1.3 points respectively.
Meanwhile, 76.6 per cent said they used the internet for entertainment, down 0.2 points, while 18.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent said they had used e-banking services and online government services respectively.
During the year, fibre-optic broadband services surged by 115.2 per cent to 77,900 users, while those using fixed broadband and mobile broadband services fell by 36.2 and 0.8 per cent, amounting to 71,200 and 140,200 respectively.
Because of mobile phones and other devices, according to the DSEC, 3.2 per cent fewer households (147,400) used desktop computers, laptops and tablets. Mobile phone users edged up 0.3 per cent to 561,400, while there were 10.1 per cent fewer computer users (333,400).
