Rye Brook, NY - July 22, 2009 - 18-24 year old consumers are twice as likely to do their back-to-school shopping online as compared to the overall consumer average of 12 percent. Hispanic consumers also responded above average with 20 percent indicating they will shop online this year for back-to-school purchases. This is according to the eBillme™ Online Spending Index, a quarterly survey examining consumer spending trends online. The survey is conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research and released quarterly by eBillme, the payment option that enables consumers and small businesses to use online banking to pay now, pay securely and use available funds.
The eBillme Online Spending Index polls 1,200 consumers to measure projected online spending for the quarter and the influencing factors including the economy, security, and financial control. Overall consumer spending online for Q3 is projected to decrease by 11 percent to an average of $227 compared to an average of $255 last quarter and $346 during last year’s Q3.
“This quarter’s Index shows signs that the recessions is still impacting consumer spending and payment decisions,” says Bruce Cundiff, Director of Payments Research and Consulting for Javelin Strategy & Research. “Our findings show that 57 percent of consumers plan to delay purchases because of uncertainty in the economy. This is an almost 10 percent increase from this time last year. Consumer spending remains cautious and despite new legislation to help protect the consumer from changes in their credit card policies, sentiment towards credit card usage has further declined. Consumer confidence will need to show signs of improvement before there can be a bounce back in spending.”
Consumer sentiment towards credit card spending shows significant decline this quarter. 33 percent of consumers anticipate their credit card usage will decline over the next 90 days, an increase from 25 percent in Q3 2008. Exactly half of all consumers plan to permanently reduce their use of credit cards because of changes in the economy and the new credit card legislation.
“There is a visible shift in credit card usage as compared to Q3 2008,” says Marwan Forzley, President and CEO of eBillme. “It is clear that consumers have changed their spending habits and the recession continues to play a dominant role in financial decisions. We continue to see evidence of more cash spending on our merchant sites and expect that spending and lifestyle changes will extend far beyond these economic conditions.”
eBillme and Javelin Strategy & Research will be presenting a Webinar to discuss the research findings and consumer trends from the data. The Webinar will be presented on Thursday, August 6 at 1PM EST. To register, please visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/350734674.
About the Index
The Index is based on data collected from an online consumer survey deployed quarterly starting in August 2008, with a sample size of 1,200 respondents. The survey targeted US adults (age 18 +) and was based on representative proportions of gender, ethnicity and income as compared to the overall US online population. Overall margin of sampling error is ±2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
The next Index will be released in October, 2009. Data from the Index will be posted on the eBillme website, http://blog.eBillme.com.
About eBillme eBillme™ is the most secure way to pay online and the only online payment solution that extends the convenience of online banking to the merchant’s checkout process. The service enhances security for online shoppers, and enables merchants to increase sales while reducing transaction costs. No financial data is exposed and the payment transaction is securely transferred from the customer’s bank to the retailer’s bank. Consumers can shop online, by catalog or through call centers, and pay for their purchases at their bank, credit union, or bill pay portal using the security and convenience of online banking. For more information, please visit http://www.eBillme.com or eBillme’s Online Debt-Free Shopping Mall.
Hyperlinks
eBillme Website: http://www.eBillme.com
eBillme Blog: http://blog.eBillme.com/
@eBillme on Twitter: http://twitter.com/eBillme
ShopDebtFree Website: http://ShopDebtFree.com
ShopDebtFree Blog: http://shopdebtfree.ebillme.com/category/blog
@shopdebtfree on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shopdebtfree
Marwan Forzley: http://www.ebillme.com/about/management-team/
Buyer Protection Program: http://www.ebillme.com/features/buyer-protection/
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