Men lead in shopping from foreign websites

Online shopping from foreign websites is becoming increasingly popular among Thais, particularly male shoppers, according to a survey.

Thai men are more likely than women to shop from foreign websites, the latest MasterCard Online Shopping Behaviour survey shows. Male shoppers accounted for 35.0 per cent of online shopping occasions going overseas. This average of 35 per cent has significantly grown from 24 per cent in the previous survey, as well as the share of online spends of 32.3 per cent from 23.0 per cent for male shoppers' behavior.

As for female, their online purchase occasions accounted for 27.9 per cent in 2012 (compared to 17 per cent in 2011) and the online spends of 27.5 per cent (compared to 18 per cent).

The most common purchases from overseas websites for people in Thailand were apps (19.9 per cent), hotel accommodations (18.1 per cent), and toys and gifts (15.7 per cent).

Average of share of online purchase occasions from websites outside of Thailand has notably increased to 31.5 per cent from 20.0 per cent in 2011, and the share of online spends climbed up to 29.9 per cent from 20.0 per cent.