Figures published today by the Israel Postal Company show that the company delivered 52 million parcels in 2016, and the number is expected to rise to 59 million in 2017 and 100 million in 2020, depending on growth in Internet shopping.
How many people buy, and how frequently
82% of the adult Jewish population in Israel regularly buys products through overseas websites, compared with 70% who buy from websites in Israel. One quarter of those who buy from foreign websites order products once a week, compared with 16% of buyers from websites in Israel, according to a Postal Company Internet survey conducted in May 2017 through the Shiluv I2R research institute.
The Israeli overseas online shopping capital is Rishon Lezion; residents of the city make the most per capita overseas online orders, followed by Ramat Gan, Petah Tikva, Givatayim, and Tel Aviv.
A higher proportion of consumers (85-86%) in the 18-49 age bracket shop online than consumers in the 50+ age bracket (75%). 85-86% of those with high school or higher education shop online, compared with 66% of those with little education. 90% of those in the high income brackets shop online, compared with 79-80% of those with average or below average incomes.
The survey reveals that buying from Israeli websites is more common in the 30-49 age bracket (77%) than in the 18-29 age bracket (67%) and the 50+ age bracket (65%), and more common in the above average income bracket (83%) than in the average and below average income bracket (66-67%). Buying from Israeli websites increases with education (77% of those with higher education, compared with 48% with little education).
What Israelis order from local and international websites
Clothing is the main item surfers buy from overseas websites (60%), followed by cellphones and supplementary products (44%), footwear (33%), electrical and electronics items (32%), and toys (29%).
The pattern is similar for Israeli websites, although the proportion of those buying clothing is lower (36%), while the proportion of surfers buying electrical and electronics items is 37%. Other products regularly purchased from local websites include computers and supplementary products (25%) and cellphones and supplementary products (24%).
Buying more
51% of buyers from overseas websites and 28% of buyers from Israeli websites bought more than in the preceding year. 61% of buyers from overseas websites said that they would increase the volume of their purchases if the tax exemption is increased to from $75 at present to $200. Half of the buyers from overseas websites take the tax exemption ceiling into account and spend less than $75.
Israelis' favorite websites
The survey reported that the most popular overseas website was Chinese website AliExpress, followed by eBay, UK fashion website Next, Amazon, and Asos. The most popular Israeli websites were Groupon and WallaShops.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on June 6, 2017
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