More and more people are using digital tools to make purchases, and this was evidenced by an 8% increase over the previous year, according to the results of the 2024 Puerto Rico Digital Trends Study, conducted by Estudios Técnicos for the Sales and Marketing Executives Association (SME).
According to data shared during the SME Digital Forum, 60% of respondents reported having used online tools, a figure that by 2023 stood at 52% and by 2021 was 41%.
In terms of purchases, it was indicated that average annual spending has registered a significant increase, reaching $418 per person, for a total estimate of $676.4 million, compared to the $358 per person and $500 million total reported in 2023.
The top products they bought include clothing (56.3%), electronics (28.3%), beauty products (27.2%) and car parts or accessories (24.7%).
“In the case of e-commerce, the change was exponential, because it’s not just how much they are spending, they are spending more. What this can tell us is that people, after the pandemic, have become accustomed to making purchases online and see the advantage of this,” said Anitza Cox, director of analysis and social policy at Estudios Técnicos, the firm that conducted the study, in an interview with The News Journal.
She added that, “on the other hand, the percentage of people who are buying products online increased, practically eight percentage points. So what this tells us is that e-commerce is greatly diversified, that it is here to stay and that implies that local businesses have to look towards this trend to be able to enter those spaces where this consumer is.”
She noted that there has been an increase in what is known as ‘on demand services’, which includes the use of applications for money transactions or transfers, food ordering, transportation and supermarket shopping. From 49.6% in 2023, it increased to 60% in 2024.
In terms of reasons, 34.8% reported that they buy products online to have them delivered by mail and 35.1% to have them delivered to their home; both up 6.1% and 8.2%, respectively, versus the previous year.
However, the total number of people who ordered to pick up products at a store decreased to 5.7%, down from 7.1% last year.
According to Cox, this change is due to the fact that it was a trend that occurred mainly in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.
“Since we began to measure it, it was a low percentage that occurred -we understand more- in the context of covid-19, where the security measures themselves led to it. So, when we return to a quasi-normal situation, we see that these purchases are concentrated in buying products or services to be delivered to the home or by mail. There was an increase in both instances,” said Cox.
Contactless Payment on the rise
Since the introduction of contactless payment methods, the use of this tool has become increasingly common on the island, with a 10% increase over the previous year, after 57% of those surveyed said they use them.
Among the most used methods, ATH Móvil led with 93.7%, followed by credit card chips with 47.2%, cell phone applications with 8.9%, smart watch use with 3.1% and PayPal with 1%.
In this regard, Juan Carlos Pedreira, digital strategist, noted that with the possible entry of banks in Puerto Rico in the Apple Wallet platform for iPhone users, this number is expected to be “much higher” next year.
Buy now pay later
Another trend identified this year is that 25% of consumers have become familiar with the concept of buy now, pay later (BNPL). However, only three out of ten of those who are familiar with it have used it.
This type of program has different terms and conditions, usually offering short-term loans with fixed payments, no interest and no additional fees.
Users can use a BNPL app to make the purchase, or they can have BNPL options through their credit card.
Among the top platforms they highlighted Klarna with 72.2%, Afterpay with 11.1% and Affirm with 4.7%.
Users seek to detox
For the first time, during this edition of the study we measured how many people have performed a digital detox, of which 12.3% reported having detoxed for an average of 29 days.
As for the main reasons, 45% reported wanting to improve mental or emotional health, 34.5% to reconnect with the offline world and 31% to avoid developing addictive habits.
Overall, users spend an average of 4.8 hours using mobile, according to the survey.
“When we look at particular generations, they are spending a lot more time online, so among themselves there is a recognition, and particularly we see it in Generation Z, the need to take a break. Networks and digital media are important and are already part of our lives, but it’s important at times to be able to take that pause,” Cox emphasized.