UK is world’s third most popular destination for online shoppers

The UK is the world’s third-most popular destination for international online shoppers, after the US and China, according to new research from PayPal.

UK retailers attracted some 86.4 million online shoppers in the last 12 months, making it the third biggest online exporter worldwide out of the 29 countries surveyed by Paypal, help by the variety, quality, authenticity of products and higher payment security available on UK websites.

Chinese shoppers made up a quarter of the UK’s international online shoppers with 21.9 million, followed by America with 9.1 million shoppers, and then European countries France and Germany were joint third with 6 million shoppers each. Rounding up the top countries were Nigeria and India with an estimated 5.8 million and 4.9 million online shoppers buying British products in the last 12 months, placing them 5th and 6th in the list of online buyers of British goods.

For Chinese shoppers, clothing, footwear and accessories were the most popular markets for online shopping, closely followed by cosmetics and other beauty products.

“As the world’s third most popular destination for online shoppers, Britain is punching well above its weight when it comes to global e-commerce,” said Cameron McLean, PayPal UK managing director. “Yet there are still a wealth of opportunities out there for any company willing to look beyond traditional markets and sales channels. The most successful businesses will be the ones that target less established, high-growth markets whilst also setting themselves up to capitalise on the vast, borderless potential of mobile.”