Roy Morgan Research has added an additional module to its Single Source survey to monitor how digital touchpoints are impacting on consumers’ media consumption, shopping habits and other behaviour.

Dubbed ‘The Digital Universe’, the new module adds machine-based measurement of online behaviour to Single Source’s traditional face-to-face computer assisted interviewing and self-completion diaries.

The findings aim to provide a full picture of consumer behaviour across digital touchpoints, to arm marketers with the insights required to deliver more targeted messages.

CEO of Roy Morgan Research, Michele Levine, says the study will be the definitive resource for a complete picture of the connected Australian consumer as seismic shifts shape a new business landscape.

“These seismic shifts mean that a thorough understanding of The Digital Universe will be essential to the survival of every Australian business in the next decade,” Levine says.

Levine points to data which shows over $22 billion spent online during the past financial year, with eBay now attracting more eyeballs in the average month than Westfield does footfall. According to the study, 7.3 million Australians visit eBay compared to 5.4 million who shopped at Westfield shopping centres nationally.

A separate study which also uses actualised, machine-recorded data, rather than relying on self-reported data – NAB’s Online Retail Index – found that online retail spend in Australia reached only $11.5 billion in the year ended June 2012.

Roy Morgan’s Singe Source study interviews more than 50,000 respondents per year to track newspaper and magazine readership and consumer behaviour across categories.

Findings released at the launch of the new Digital Universe module also show the impact digital is having in the lounge room. Around 5% of the Australian population already access the internet via a connected television and one in five would like to do so in the future. The use of streamed video is also growing rapidly, particularly among 18-24 year old males – 75% of whom have streamed video content, while 11% claim to never watch commercial television.