Indian customers shopped online more frequently inthe fourth quarter of 2008 than in the same period the previous year, despitethe bleaker economic climate, a survey conducted by Mastercard Worldwidereveals.

The survey, which covered 5,037 respondents across 10 markets, found theaverage frequency of online purchases increased to 2.9 in the fourth quarter of2008, up from 2.6 during the same quarter in 2007.

Not only did consumers shop online more frequently despite the economicclimate, with the exception of Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, all othermarkets surveyed showed an increased intention for future online shoppingcompared to a year earlier.

The majority of the online shopping in India was planned, with 83 per cent ofshoppers admitting they tend to plan in advance and conduct research on theirplanned purchases.

The findings suggest the economic crisis could have made online shopping moreattractive. One key reason for shoppers being motivated into such purchases maybe the ability to compare prices across multiple outlets, achieving theimportant objective of “value for money”.

In India , 54 per cent of respondents had used the Internet for onlineshopping. The top three popular online purchases included airline tickets (54per cent), home appliances and electronic products (48 per cent) andCDs/DVDs/VCDs (44 per cent).

When it came to impulsive shopping, Indians seemed to prefer home appliancesand electronic products (51 per cent) and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44 per cent).

“Online shopping is growing in popularity, as consumers realise the convenienceand ease of shopping online. Interestingly, among all the markets surveyed,India is the only one where the 18-29 year age group has the highest averagespend on online shopping.

As businesses look to grow their online retail presence, they need to be awareof the preferences and concerns that drive online shoppers,” said T V Seshadri,vice president and country general manager, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide.