People over 50 are the age group that buys the most on the internet, according to research

Marlene Porto’s shopping list, 62, has been full in recent months. With a newly built house in Torres (RS), the retiree used a good part of her savings to equip her new home. She bought everything from paints and doorknobs to small appliances and appliances – almost everything online.

“I find it much more comfortable to buy everything from my cell phone,” says Marlene. “Even because, in most cases, the physical store doesn’t have the product, you have to order it on the company’s website. And if you ask the seller for details, he doesn’t know either, he will consult the manual on the internet. do from home”, says the retiree, who is also much more confident in making exchanges over the internet.

“I bought a toaster that I didn’t like and asked for my money back. I also had problems with a cooktop, which always arrived with the damaged packaging. I had to ask for the product to be exchanged three times and I was answered”.

The example of Marlene Porto illustrates the purchasing power of the public over 50 on the internet. According to exclusive data from the Webshoppers survey, by NielsenIQ|ebit consultancy, for the sheetthe 50+ range was the only one that grew among e-commerce consumers last year.

Those aged 50 and over accounted for 33.9% of online orders in 2021: it was the first time that this age group surpassed that of adults between 35 and 49 years old (33.2%), historically the largest audience that buys online , according to the NielsenIQ|ebit survey, carried out since 2001.

According to the director of e-commerce at NielsenIQ|Ebit, Marcelo Osanai, among the reasons that justify the greater presence of this audience is the attempt to protect themselves from contamination by the new coronavirus, accompanied by a lesser “schism” with e-commerce. “This more mature consumer is increasingly open to using technology and websites are also more intuitive, which makes navigation easier,” he says.

The categories in which older consumers stand out the most are Construction and Tools (51% of purchases in the segment were made by those over 50), Health (43%) and Home Appliances (42%).

E-commerce as a whole moved BRL 182.7 billion last year, a growth of 27% over the BRL 143.6 billion in 2020, according to the survey. Last year, NielsenIQ|ebit reported that 2020 sales totaled BRL 87.4 billion, but the consultancy revised the data to include Mercado Livre, the largest retailer on the Brazilian web.

Although expressive, the 27% increase in online sales last year represents a slowdown in relation to the previous year, when the growth had been 41%. A re-accommodation of e-commerce, after the reopening of physical stores, and a reduction in the purchasing power of the population explain the slowdown, according to Osanai.

“For 2022, we expect a growth between 10% and 20% of e-commerce”, says Osanai. “In addition to the maturing of the channel, there is inflation that limits purchasing power.”

In 2021, 12.9 million Brazilians bought online for the first time, bringing the total number of online consumers in the country to 87.7 million. The most used means of shopping on the internet were cell phones, which accounted for 59% of orders and 52% of revenue (R$95.4 billion), up 32% over 2020.

Consumers’ search for internet bargains involves free shipping: according to NielsenIQ|ebit research, the number of orders with no shipping cost increased by 10 percentage points in 2021, reaching 47% of the total.

Of the total of 400 million orders in 2021, the overall average ticket for sales was BRL 441, up 4% over 2020, excluding inflation.

The food and beverage category stood out in terms of number of orders: up 107% over the previous year. “Food and beverage products have a lower value, and therefore the overall contribution to e-commerce revenues is reduced, only 2%”, says Osanai.

On the other hand, the categories that weigh the most in last year’s BRL 182.7 billion billing are home appliances (21%), telephony (20%), home and decoration (11%) and IT (10%).

In terms of gender, the survey showed that men accounted for 53.5% of the value of purchases, while women made 57.4% of orders. Their average ticket is 35% higher than their average spend: BRL 555 against BRL 359.

“Women generate more orders, but with lower value products and in a greater diversity of categories”, says Osanai. “They buy from baby items to home products, while men buy more electronics and computers, products with higher added value,” she says.

In terms of income, those earning between 4 and 10 times the minimum wage accounted for 33.2% of total sales (up 1.7 percentage points over 31.5% last year). The share of other income brackets in the total pie fell: the share of consumers earning up to 4 minimum wages dropped from 51.9% to 50.9%, while the share of those earning over 10 minimum wages went from 16, 6%, to 15.9%.