Malta’s retailers take note: Most common goods acquired online by local e-shoppers is clothing

According to Wednesday’s NSO report on technology usage in Malta, clothes were the goods most commonly acquired via the internet in 2020. 

The report, compiling data from a survey partially financed by the European Commission, provided data on internet usage trends and activities by age and sex.

The report shows that after clothing, which 133,606 internet users who engaged in e-commerce reported buying online, food delivery services were purchased the most, with 131,548 internet users who engage in e-commerce reporting they did so.

Most people spent €100 – €300 on goods purchased on the internet, with 60,000 having done so. The least common amount was €700 – €1000, which less than 10,000 users reported spending.

Also indicated by the report is that e-commerce usage increased rather distinctly in 2020, with 62.7 of internet users reporting they engaged in it, as opposed to 57.8 per cent in 2019.

Malta’s e-commerce activities are largely in line with that of their EU partners, with Eurostat indicating that across the EU, most internet users reported purchasing clothes online.

However, one area in which the data indicates a difference is in the use of the internet for food deliveries. Malta’s internet users purchased food deliveries online at a much greater rate than the EU average, with 60 per cent reporting they did so, as opposed to the EU average of 29 per cent.

With regards to general internet usage, the report indicates that people either use the internet regularly, or not at all, as 86.9 per cent reported having used the internet in the three months prior to the survey, and the rest reported never having used it.

In news that might not surprise, the report showed that Malta’s entire 16 to 24 age cohort used the internet in 2020.

65 – 74 year olds had the lowest internet usage, with 49.1 per cent reporting having used it.

By sex, the report indicates that females use the internet more than males, with 87 per cent of females having used the internet in the last three months, as opposed to 86.8 per cent of males.

95.8 per cent of Malta’s internet users used it daily, with the rest reporting they use it not daily, but at least once a week.