Internet use in Switzerland - how digital are the Swiss?

With the help of figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office and the market research company GfK, the full-service digital agency is investigating the question: How digital are the Swiss?

The user figures provide an initial answer to this: 5.77 million people aged 14 and over use the internet, while 0.79 million are still offline and live behind the (digital) moon, so to speak. The Swiss are particularly active in the area of e-commerce. Last year, they turned over 7.2 billion Swiss francs in this area. This is astonishing, given that the figure was only 3.8 billion in 2010 (Infographic 2010, PDF).

Companies currently planning to expand into Switzerland should take a close look here in particular: Travel providers can hope for strong sales, but food retailers cannot. This is because the results for online shopping show that travel is most frequently booked online, while products such as food, cosmetics or flowers are preferred to be purchased in bricks-and-mortar stores. It is also worth taking a look at the financial transactions of the Swiss: online shopping is popular, but not with digital payment services. Payment is mostly made by credit card. Payment systems such as PayPal are on the rise, but are used the least (27%).

There is also potential for optimization when it comes to e-banking. Only 51 percent use this option for online purchases. 53 percent still prefer conventional payments in the land of banks. If you want to reduce checkout abandonment, a wide range of payment options is recommended - this is also what Swiss consumers want.

Those who do not consume goods like to watch films on the web, use online TV and radio or are active on social networks. Marketing and digital experts can gain more insights into Swiss internet usage in the latest infographic.

Author of the study: Thomas Link, Creative Director and Partner at Namics.