Women, particularly moms, are shopping online from work

Women, particularly mothers, take advantage of downtime at work to shop online. According to AOL's new whitepaper, "The Mall Behind the Spreadsheet" (.pdf), 40% of women age 18-54 shop via the Internet from their place of work.

On average, women tend to shop between 15 and 30 minutes a day while at work although moms, who are more pressed for time outside of work, tend to shop for longer periods of time in the workplace.

In fact, time-saving and convenience feature highly in the reasons why women, both moms and non-moms, shop online at work:

- 53% Time saver/convenience
- 40% To pass time
- 38% I need it now
- 20% No time at home
- 35% Most downtime

At what points in the workday are women shopping online? Over half (54%) indulge in retail therapy during their lunch-break while 46% take advantage of other scheduled breaks or downtime. Marketers can take advantage of this downtime and target email offers during these periods.

Another interesting finding - Friday is the day when most women shop online from work (52% vs. 27% on Tuesdays). Therefore, in addition to targeting women by day-part, promotions can be geared to build awareness during the week leading to a big finale on the final working day of the week.

And, for added targeting, the study suggests the best time on a Friday to engage women at work is between the hours of 11am and 2pm, the hours during which 49% claim to shop.

Tags: online shopping, women, workplace