Online shoppers increasingly cross-border shop
Not only is online shopping a way of life for many shoppers, more and more of them are doing it across borders.
Those are among the findings of the third annual Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Survey, in which nearly one-third of consumers reported they make domestic online purchases on a daily or weekly basis. While it's no surprise that consumers frequently make domestic online purchases (94%), more than two-thirds (66%) of these consumers have also made an online purchase from another country in the past year.
Singapore (89%), Australia (86%) and Hong Kong (85%) have the highest number of cross-border shoppers, while countries like Japan (34%) and the United States (45%) are still growing in cross-border confidence.
Helping to drive cross-border shopping is the mutually-beneficial union between physical stores and online shopping, which could provide a huge opportunity for retailers and brands, according to the survey. Sixty-three of consumers that have shopped cross-border are now participating in what Pitney Bowes call “In-store Global. Online Local,” which is when consumers make in-store purchases during their international travels, and follow up with online purchases from that same cross-border retailer.
Approximately half of consumers say that all or most of their online shopping, whether domestic or cross-border, is through an online marketplace. The top countries in which shoppers choose all or most of their cross-border marketplace purchases are Japan (70%), China (61%), Germany (59%) and India (55%). About a quarter of global shoppers choose the retailer’s direct site for all or most of their cross-border shopping. The top direct-to-retail countries are Canada (35%), South Korea (34%) and Australia (33%). The remaining shoppers shop both marketplaces and retailers with no leading preference. This suggests that retailers should consider a broad presence and multiple channels to reach global shoppers.
“We have moved beyond the days of marketplace or retailer; in-store or online; or even in-country or cross-border,” said Lila Snyder, president, global e-commerce, Pitney Bowes. “The world is shopping — everywhere — as new consumer behaviors and trends have emerged. Entering the holiday season and a new year, retailers and marketplaces alike should take note and capitalize on these shifts in consumer behavior, which open up new opportunities for brands and retailers at home and abroad.”
In other survey findings:
• In the United States, one-third of shoppers (33%) use mobile for completing a purchase, and mobile usage increases significantly (47%) when tracking an item post purchase. The data reveals a strong tracking application as highly strategic to reaching the mobile shopper.
• While survey results varied by country, no one payment option was chosen by a majority of cross-border shoppers. Credit cards (45%) were the most preferred method of payment online. E-wallets, which allow consumers to store multiple payment accounts in one place (i.e. PayPal, Alipay), were identified as another popular payment method (34%) for cross-border purchases.
• When asked about the most important factors in selecting a payment option, consumers cited service fees/total cost of purchase (33%), value of the purchase (25%), and offer of a purchase protection plan (25%) as the most important considerations when selecting a payment option.
• Online shipping and returns continue to be a major pain point for consumers, When asked about holiday shopping, 42% of consumers say they experienced related challenges when shopping online for the 2015 holiday season. Shipping the right item, accuracy in address and tracking, a transparent returns policy, and proper duty and tax were all cited as challenges.
• In the United States, 31% of consumers reported experiencing challenges during last year’s holiday shopping season, putting the pressure on retailers and marketplaces to make significant improvements in the consumer experience heading into this holiday.
The 2016 Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Study was conducted online by ORC International and surveyed approximately 13,000 adults across 13 countries regarding their perceptions, habits and preferences for making online purchases. This year’s survey polled Singapore, Hong Kong and Mexico for the first time, where they joined survey participants from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.