Study: Biggest barriers for consumers in global online shopping are…
High shipping costs are the major barrier to adoption of global online shopping.
That is according to the 2015 Pitney Bowes Online Shopping study. High shipping costs (64%) were ranked as the biggest barrier in the survey, followed by additional fees owed at time of delivery (48%) and product delivery taking too long (39%).
Product returns are also a major concern, as 33% of global shoppers cited online return policies and processes as deterrents.
Another barrier is localization, with 30% of global online shoppers saying they would be discouraged from completing a purchase with merchants who do not offer their preferred form of payment. Additional barriers include not being able to read a product description because it is in a foreign language (29%), merchants not accepting credit cards (27%) and when pricing is not in a country’s local currency (25%).
The study also found that search engines still lead in finding products, and that online marketplaces and retailers’ sites are the top choices for buying online. Sixty-two percent of online shoppers are using search engines as the preferred method to find products. When international consumers were asked what types of online sites they would consider purchasing from, 66% chose online marketplaces, while 62% selected retailers’ websites.
In other findings:
• Nearly a quarter of consumers said they make the most online purchases on mobile devices – including mobile/smart phones, tablets or other devices – or a mix of devices.
• Online shoppers in the U.K. (37%), India (36%) and China (34%), and the U.S. (29%) had the highest rates for using a mobile device, or mix of devices. Thirty-three percent of millennials (ages 18 to 34) are using mobile devices, or a mix of devices, compared to 24% of overall consumers in the study.
• The U.S. (71%), U.K. (44%) and Germany (39%) continue to be the most desirable e-destinations for consumers to purchase goods online outside their own country.
• A third of global online shoppers have purchased products online from retailers in other countries. Australians continue to be the most likely to buy products online from retailers outside their own country (63% in 2015 and 2014 studies) followed by Canada (48% in 2015 versus 54% in 2014) and Russia (49% in 2015 versus 54%).
• Price is the top reason (61%) shoppers have purchased or would consider purchasing a product from an online retailer outside of their own country, followed by availability (40%), quality and better selection (both 30%). Product authenticity was highest in India, (36%), China and South Korea (both 30%) and Russia (22%).
See infographic for more: