A year of COVID-19: New Zealand's online behaviour revealed
Kiwis spent 1.47 billion hours using mobile phones, 1 hour and 55 mins per day on social media and downloaded 160 million apps in 2020, according to new data from the Hootsuite - We Are Social Digital 2021 Report.
According to the report, the average Kiwi has 7.6 social media accounts, with YouTube taking the top spot as New Zealand's favourite social media platform, with 86.7% of Kiwis logging on in the past month. Facebook closely followed at 83.5%, then Facebook Messenger (74.8%), Instagram (57%), Whatsapp (40%), Snapchat (32.8%) and LinkedIn (30.7%).
New Zealanders spent the big bucks on apps in 2020, totalling $270 million, the report found. Disney+ topped the list for the app with the most consumer spend, followed by Tinder, with the top ten including Google One in third place, Netflix at fourth, Twitch at seventh, and Headspace at number ten.
A true testament to the year that's been, when looking the most downloaded apps of the year, TikTok reigned king, followed by Facebook (#2) and Zoom (#3).
The report shows New Zealanders spent an average 6 hours and 39 minutes on the internet per day in 2020, three hours and 8 minutes watching television, 1 hour and 55 minutes using social media and 1 hour and 20 minutes listening to music streaming services.
Kiwis loved their online news in 2020, with new websites leading the top sites for traffic volume. Stuff was the top news site, clocking up 35.9 million total visits throughout the year, closely followed by the NZ Herald with 31.2 million visits.
What were Kiwis searching for? When diving into the most searched Google queries in 2020, Weather ranked #1, followed by News (#2), Stuff (#3), Facebook (#4), Google (#5), New Zealand (#6), Coronavirus (#7), Youtube (#8), Warehouse (#9) and Herald (#10).
The report found 99% of Kiwis used a conventional search engine in the past month.
For the past year, the report found 94.3% of Kiwis watched online videos, 65.7% listened to music streaming services, 36.5% watched vlogs and 34.8% listened to podcasts.
Prioritising privacy and wellbeing: 1 in 4 New Zealanders tracked their screen time or app time limits in the past month, 40.2% expressed concern about how companies are using their personal data and 42.3% used ad blocking tools.
Online retail rockets:
In a year most were bagging a bargain online, the value of New Zealand's eCommerce market grew a massive 19.9%, with the average Kiwi spending $1,529 online in 2020.
Showing the widespread online retail adoption, 88.4% of Kiwis searched for a product online in 2020, 71.7% visited an online retail store and 70.9% purchased a product online.
Online food delivery services ate much of New Zealanders hard-earned cash, with 42% of Kiwis admitting to using them in the past month, and spending an average of $255 on them in the past year.
