The majority of Australians consider the price of an appliance as the number one priority before buying, according to findings released by Roy Morgan Research.
The research, focusing on the features Australians considered the most important when visiting an electrical or department store, found that 72 per cent of Australians aged 14+ hold price above service as the leading factor when browsing goods.
From July 2013 to June 2014, price came above the range of products (60 per cent), service (52 per cent), range of brands (50 per cent) and past experience with the store (44 per cent) as the factors shoppers consider the most important when looking for appliances in-store.
The type of club member offers available was found to be the least important for Australians, with only 3 per cent of respondents highlighting it as their key feature. Rebates (5 per cent), interest free terms (13 per cent) and the overall store environment (17 per cent) were also found to be on the low end of importance.
While price came as the number one feature looked at across all age groups, the level of importance was found to vary per generation group.
Those in Generation Y (born between 1976 – 1990) were found to hold price as the most important feature (78 per cent), compared with 60 per cent of Pre-Boomers (born before 1946). 61 per cent of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 – 1960) chose service as the most important feature, compared with only 36 per cent of those in Generation Z (born between 1991 – 2005).
“Nobody wants to pay too much for appliances, so it makes sense that Australians of all generations place top priority on price when visiting an electrical goods or department store,” said Geoffrey Smith, General Manager – Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research.
“Upon closer inspection, however, we see that the proportions of each generation that consider price to be important vary significantly. The Boomer generations and Gen X are more likely than Gens Y and Z to value service; in fact, Gen Z don’t seem to be overly concerned about anything except price. (Of course, at their young age, they wouldn’t have had cause to buy many appliances!)
“Understanding the subtle variations in expectations from customers of different ages allows electrical appliance retailers to tailor their marketing, their retail offering and their customer service approach to attract exactly the kind of consumers they are aiming for.”
