Trade Me, The Warehouse and GrabOne lead online shopping

New Zealanders are hooked to online shopping, according to new research from Nielsen NZ, with cyberspace providing limitless options.

Online auction site Trade Me leads the pack in regards to where Kiwis go online, with travel proving a hot item.

Close to 2 million New Zealanders made a purchase via the internet the last year, the research shows. Digital consumers are purchasing more items online (+9% year on year) and spend much more (+21%).

New Zealanders now buy 18.2 million items online per annum to the value of $4.6 billion, with spend expected to reach $4.8 billion by the end of 2015.

"While the growth of new online shoppers has slowed, those already online shopping are hooked," says Tony Boyte, research director, Nielsen NZ. "For the first time, those who purchased six or more items each year make up half of all online shoppers, up from 38% in 2010".

The amount spent by New Zealanders on overseas websites is estimated at $1.6 billion, Boyte says. Two-thirds of online shoppers (66%) have made a purchase from an overseas website in the last three months, up from 61% in 2014. More than 60% of those people say that they could not find the items available on a New Zealand retail site.

"Consumers everywhere want a good product at a good price, and the seemingly limitless options available in a virtual environment provide new opportunities for both merchants and consumers," says Boyte.

The research also revealed travel is the lead category for online shopping.

The number of New Zealanders buying flights and travel services such as accommodation and car hire has grown and is the leading category for online shopping.

Fashion (clothing/shoes/accessories) is most popular outside of travel. Books declined in the last year from the third most popular category to fifth.

Event tickets, music, consumer electronics, games and consoles, sports equipment, flowers, insurance, home appliances and alcohol saw strong growth in the last year.

Trade Me leads online retailers with nearly 2 million (1,917,000) monthly visitors to its site. The Warehouse, in second place (871,000) had strong growth year on year. The top five is completed with GrabOne (648,000), Amazon (638,000) and Air New Zealand (577,000).