Question of the week: What are the demographics of online shoppers?

You might be thinking, “Wouldn’t that be pretty much everyone? Even my 93-year-old grandmother is shopping online.” That seems like a logical conclusion. But that’s not the reality. 

Not Everyone Is Doing Their Shopping Online

Not yet, at least. Because if you know anyone in their 90s who’s G-macking with their Mac to buy iron supplements, then you know a member of the minority.

Yeah, there are A LOT of people comfortable with shopping online now. And this is good news for online retailers. But like any other retailers, they need to know who their potential customers are in order to market them effectively. 

So in 2014, Business Insider Intelligence issued a report that broke down the demographics of online/mobile shoppers in the U.S. by gender, age, income, and education. And then they took a look at what these different demographics were shopping for, and how their behaviors differed.

Here are the highlights of what they found:

Millennials Own It

It’s no surprise that consumers aged 18 to 34 are the key age demographic for online commerce. In spite of the fact that they have lower incomes than older adults, they spend more money online in a given year than any other age group. 

But it makes sense. Half of this group is comprised of internet natives who have never lived a day without the internet. So this is their world.

Boomers And Seniors Are Gaining Steam

Even though the millennials dominate, one in four mobile shoppers in the U.S. are over the age of 55 - which is about even with their share of the overall U.S. population. 

So in spite of the notion that boomers and seniors eschew the internet, at least 25% of them are comfortable with it and no longer live in mortal fear of “the Facebook stealing their identity” after making a purchase.  

Men Drive Online Spending As Much As Woman

Traditional shopping - the sort that’s done at the mall, grocery store or boutiques - has for a long time been the domain of women. This is partially because women control more of the household spending. And also because many men would sooner drain a knee than shop. 

But the BI report showed that men drive nearly as much spending online in the U.S. as women. Men are also more likely to make purchases on mobile devices rather than laptops or PCs. Perhaps shopping on the go makes it more palatable. 

Online Shoppers Tend to Have Higher Incomes

The median household income in the U.S. is around $50,000. Yet over half of e-commerce shoppers live in households with incomes above $75,000. And just under half are in households earning more than $100,000. 

But this isn’t all that earth-shattering. Because when you get right down to it, it’s safe to say that this is probably true of all shopping. 

People with more money have more money to spend.

So there you have it. The not too shocking breakdown of the demographics of online shoppers. 

And we don’t suspect a surge in male shopaholism any time soon.