Virgin Media's third Digital Insights Report has revealed some fascinating stats on Ireland's digital landscape. We take a look at 11 key findings.
The folks at Virgin Media have been busy keeping up with the Irish.
This morning, the company revealed the findings of its third Digital Insights Report in a jam-packed Science Gallery hall in front of a healthy representation of the nation’s media.
The report is a bit like a ‘State of the Union’ address for Ireland’s digital landscape. Everything from our satisfaction with our broadband to how much money we’re spending online every month was covered.
The research was carried out by Amárach Research and the findings were pretty fascinating.
Here are 11 things we learned about digital Ireland today.
1 We LOVE online shopping…
More than 9 out of every 10 Irish internet users shop online. Convenience, choice and credit/debit cards are what it’s all about for us Irish, it seems.
2 …and we’re about to love it even more
The amount of money we’re spending online is going to double to over €14bn a year by 2021. Wow!
So, that Apple tax money could nearly cover a year-long online shopping spree for everyone in the country. Anyone have a number for Tim Cook?
3 We spend a decent chunk of change online every month
Each of us is spending an average of €80 a month online, up from €71 a month in 2014.
I wonder how much of this online shopping is replacing regular retail and how much of it is spending we wouldn’t have undertaken if we weren’t online. Hmm.
4 Online shopping is cheap and convenient, that’s why we love it
53% of us shop online because the product we’re after isn’t available in shops, 72% do it to save money and 48% choose online out of convenience.
And with Amazon’s 1-click shopping, it’s hard to imagine how much more convenient it can get. Over to you, Jeff Bezos.
5 We’re pretty obsessed with having broadband access
How much cash would you need to be compensated with to give up your broadband for a month? €100? €250? €1,000?!
In 2014, we would’ve been willing to part with our broadband for €130 a month. But that figure has risen to €390 since then!
It makes today’s broadband only prices of €45-€50 a month seem like pretty fantastic value, doesn’t it?
6 We think that technology makes us better at our jobs…
More than half us think that digital technology helps us with our work. And 71% of us believe it helps us to learn new skills.
7 …but it’s getting in the way of a good night’s kip
61% of us believe that digital technology has negatively impacted our sleep. Maybe an online curfew is in order?
8 We think web chat services are awesome
4 out of 10 of us use web chat services and 9 out of 10 of those who do find them really useful.
We’re big fans of web chat here at bonkers.ie, jump onto one of our comparison pages now to give it a whirl. You’re statistically very likely to find it useful ;)
9 We’re LESS happy with our broadband than we were in 2014
This one really caught my eye.
As a nation, our satisfaction with broadband has decreased in the last two years. In 2014, 75% of us said that our broadband connection was able to meet our online needs, but that figure now stands at just 69%.
This is in spite of the fact that prices have been falling and speeds have been improving. It points to an ever-increasing reliance on internet access.
10 Ireland’s mammies and daddies are digital whizzes now
Another fascinating finding is that 90% of Irish adults now own a smartphone, up from 30% in 2014.
Yet another example of the eye-watering rate at which Ireland is adopting digital technology.
11 Tony Hanway is a top guy
We put some of that new-fangled digital technology to work at today’s launch and filmed a quick interview with Virgin Media's CEO, Tony Hanway.
Have a look!
