Romanians are quick to buy a smartphone or tablet online

Newsroom 22/08/2014 | 12:09

Romanians lead the way for consumers that buy smartphones on the Internet, after doing research, with more than half (55 percent) making an acquisition after visiting on average 8 websites to collect information, according to a GfK report.

Brits are next in the ranking, with 42.5 percent making a purchase, after visiting an average of 9 websites. Belgians’ research takes them to 21 websites and about a third (32 percent) make a purchase. Russians are at the opposite end of the spectrum with just 19 percent opting to buy a smartphone online after visiting 7 websites.

“In general, buyers in UK and Romania have a similar behavior, spending more time on fewer websites. By contrast, Belgians take in consideration reviews and details from more websites than the buyers in the other three markets, because they are interested in finding the best possible prices, while for the Russians the research process is far less intense and varied”, according to the GfK researchers.

On the other hand, Romanians present the least percentage of searches for buying products online: 77 percent, compared to 86 percent in the case of Brits, 92 percent for Belgians and 95 percent for Russians.

The time they dedicate to online research varies from 24 minutes in the case of Russians, 52 minutes – Belgians, 63 minutes – Romanians and 70 minutes – British. The research itself is spread out over several weeks, with Romanians being the quickest to make the purchase after 15 days since they started the process. British consumers take the longest time: 41 days until purchase.

The most valuable information is considered that supplied by producers and telecom operators, but price comparing tools are also important, while opinions express through social media are not so important a factor. Only 8 percent of Romanians utilized social media for research into purchasing a new smartphone.