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Posts tagged digital goods
Did You Get What You Wanted for Valentine’s Day this Year?
Feb 21st
What did your sweetheart get you for Valentine’s Day this year? The gift you absolutely wanted—a virtual good?
Last week, Plimus released the results of its Plimus Virtual Valentine’s Day survey, which highlighted consumers’ behaviors toward giving their valentines online gifts and what, if any, barriers prevented them from doing so
The “Plimus Virtual Valentine’s Day” survey found:
• 43 percent of consumers wanted a digital gift this Valentine’s Day
• Nearly half of respondents indicated they would like to receive an electronic greeting card for Valentine’s Day
• One in five survey participants planned to purchase social media game credits for their Valentine this year
• Two out of three consumers said they would be more willing to purchase a virtual good for Valentine’s Day if the order page was intuitive and required limited personal information
Sales of virtual goods have increased consistently year-over-year as virtual goods and services become more abundant and consumers’ access to them has become easier and more frictionless. In fact, consumers said they would prefer a virtual good from their significant other for Valentine’s Day rather than a traditional gift such as chocolate, flowers or stationery.
Survey respondents indicated that, too often, they cannot complete a virtual purchase due to bothersome order pages and the large amount of personal data required to complete the purchase. For every three buyers, two indicated they would not complete the purchase — leaving their partner without a gift this Valentine’s Day.
We want everyone to get the gifts they want, and we ensure that all transactions purchased through our vendors are safe, secure, frictionless and intuitive for the end-user.
So tell us, what did you get this year?
Social Gaming: Who’s Spending What, Where?
Aug 4th
As the popularity of social gaming continues to grow, the marketplace for virtual products is now offering consumers more options than ever before. Today gamers can purchase nearly any type of virtual object – from elephants to guns – nothing seems to be off limits. According to a recent report conducted by market researcher VGMarket, roughly 75 percent of online gamers are using their cold, hard-earned cash to purchase virtual goods. But how and where are these consumers spending their money?
Dean Takahashi took a look at the habits of these online spenders and broke it down in an interesting article for VentureBeat. In his piece, Takahashi highlights that not only are gamers buying, they are buying often! According to the 2010 Digital Goods Report, roughly 64 percent of users make at least one purchase a month and 9 percent buy virtual goods daily. And there seems to be no buyer’s remorse here, with half of these online shoppers reporting that they plan on spending the same amount on digital goods over the next 12 months.
And there’s no shortage of sites offering virtual goods. Currently, social networks dominate the online marketplace with users reporting that they spend an average of $50 per year on digital goods through these platforms. Trailing shortly behind social networks, consumers in the multiplayer and causal gaming markets, shell out nearly $40 per year for digital goods ranging from weapons to puppets.
Surprisingly, while men play more online games and are the primary purchasers of virtual goods, women over the age of 24 report spending disproportionately large sums of money on certain products. Women surveyed in the study, reported spending an average of $55 dollars on social networks per year compared to males who only spent about $30 dollars per year. Similarly, women reported spending twice as much as their male counterparts when buying in-game currency.
It seems there is no end in sight. It will be interesting to see where this market will expand and what digital goods will emerge as a result. For now, we here at Plimus will continue to focus on making this buying experience as immersive, seamless, and enjoyable as possible for all.
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/219249582/
