Cyber shopping feverish in China

Shanghai (CNS) -- Chinese consumers spend three times more hours shopping online than Europeans, and nearly double the time of Americans and the British, revealed a survey released on Wednesday.

Seventy percent of Chinese interviewees in this global study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) surf to shop once a week, 40 percent more often than their American and British counterparts, and on 20 percent more occasions than the Dutch, French or Swiss.

Not surprisingly, Chinese online shoppers show more confidence in their online consumptive savvy, as about 86 percent of them describe themselves as very experienced at info gathering and selecting their target goods. Confidence levels in other countries around the world amount to only about 69 percent.

In terms of target items, about 60 to 65 percent of Chinese cyber shoppers are after garments, shoes, books, music and movies, and seek them directly from the product producers instead of intermediate retailers. The percentage falls to about a half in other regions.

Buying on a mobile phone is also gaining popularity in China, the survey found.

PwC displayed the online consumption habits and preferences of 7,005 interviewees on the Internet. Respondents were from the U.S., the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Germany, France, the U.K., Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Chinese online shoppers selected from 27 mainland cities totaled 905 participants.