The Internet as a communication and purchasing medium
Swiss people mainly use the internet to communicate with other people. This is the result of a study conducted by the University of St. Gallen conducted by the University of St. Gallen on online usage behavior.
In the study, 71.4 percent stated that they use the internet for this purpose, among others. 54.2 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed from 13 Swiss cities stated that they use the Internet for fun. 52.3 percent read news and magazines, 51.9 percent used the Internet to educate themselves and 28.9 percent used it to buy products and services.
The search engine Google is the most visited website with 22.9% of regular users. The social network Facebook follows with 18.7%. The video platform YouTube is in third place with 6.5% of regular visitors.
Online consumption behavior
The age group of over 55-year-old internet users is by far the most eager to buy. According to the study, they spent an average of CHF 1,862 on internet orders in 2010. In comparison, members of the 25-34 age group spent CHF 10,078.
The online platform Ricardo.ch is the most frequently used for online purchases, with 8.4% of users currently using it. This is followed in turn by the websites of Amazon, Easyjet and eBay. 53% of those surveyed also stated that they would use the mobile Internet - once they knew how - to find products and services in their immediate vicinity, which attests to the great potential of this form of customer acquisition.
The study was presented on Tuesday by marketing and retail management professor Thomas Rudolph at a media conference organized by Ricardo.ch in Zug.
