• Home
  • News
  • Retail
  • 'US, UK and Germany still most desirable e-destinations'

'US, UK and Germany still most desirable e-destinations'

By Simone Preuss

loading...

Scroll down to read more

Retail |STUDY

According to Pitney Bowes' second annual Global Online Shopping Study, while e-commerce continues to connect the world through online shopping and consumers worldwide find and buy products online in similar ways, there are unique global shopping preferences and country-specific behaviours that (r)etailers looking to expand globally should be well aware of.

“In today’s global marketplace, e-commerce is continuing to connect the world’s economies in new ways, making it possible for brands to sell, compete and expand their footprint. By focusing on the consumer – what they want and how they like to shop – brands can develop the right roadmap to achieve global e-commerce success,” said Lila Snyder, president, global e-commerce.

In terms of purchasing preferences, that means that brands and retailers banking on online marketplaces would do well in Russia, China and the United States where a majority of consumers (78 percent, 76 percent and 76 percent, respectively) are likely to buy from this platform. However, in Australia, UK and Canada, consumers are most likely to buy products directly from a retailers' website (81 percent, 72 percent and 71 percent, respectively).

Use of online marketplaces, retail websites, search engines and social media is country-specific

Consumers in Germany, Japan and South Korea prefer search engines and said they would consider buying products found here (46 percent, 40 percent and 33 percent, respectively). Though still a growing online sales channel, brands and retailers investing in social media should take note that in India, Brazil and Russia, these efforts would be most useful with 27 percent, 15 percent and 14 percent of consumers in these countries, respectively, saying they would consider buying products online from social media sites.

In addition, 38 percent of online shoppers in India also search for products on social media, followed by 21 percent in Brazil and 20 percent in China. Mobile devices like cell phones, smartphones, tablets and other devices are most likely to be used by consumers in the UK, India, China and the US (37 percent, 36 percent, 34 percent and 29 percent, respectively) when making online purchases.

The biggest hurdles that online merchants have to overcome are high shipping costs (64 percent), additional fees at time of delivery (48 percent) and long delivery times (39 percent) if they want to attract more consumers. Product returns are also a major concern (33 percent) as well as negative customer reviews and ratings (31 percent). Localisation can be a problem too, for example if an online merchant does not offer a customer's preferred payment method (30 percent) or if the product description is in a foreign language (29 percent), credit cards are not being accepted (27 percent) or when pricing is not in the local currency (25 percent).

Last but not least, as seen in previous studies, the UK, US and Germany remain the most desirable online shopping destinations (at 71 percent, 44 percent and 39 percent, respectively) for consumers when purchasing products online outside their own country. Reasons to do so would be first and foremost a better price, followed by availability, quality and better selection; product authenticity was valued most in India, China, South Korea and Russia. While a third of global consumers have already bought products from websites in other countries, consumers are most likely to do so in Australia, Russia and Canada (at 63 percent, 49 percent and 48 percent, respectively).

Image: 2015 Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Study
Online Shopping