The sector is meeting customers’ delivery needs says new cross border survey
A survey, looking at cross-border online shopping experiences in 17 countries around the globe has revealed that 84% of cross-border online shoppers are satisfied with their delivery experience. Commenting on the results of the first International Post Corporation (IPC) Online Shopper Survey, Herbert-Michael Zapf, President and CEO of IPC states: “This survey.. provides us with valuable insights to help postal operators understand and meet the evolving needs for cross-border e-Commerce, and will therefore be repeated annually. Cross-border is continuously growing and for this to continue it is important for postal operators to understand consumers’ behaviour in order to meet their need for more convenience and remove remaining obstacles for consumers to embrace cross -border e-Commerce.”
The survey also revealed that China is the largest export market for global cross-border online shopping and that free shipping is being offered to 59% of cross-border online shoppers.
Online cross-border shopping frequency varies considerably between China and the global average. While on average, 63% of frequent cross-border online shoppers shop cross-border at least once amonth, in China no less than 99% of frequent cross-border online shoppers shop cross-border at least once a month.
A computer is still the preferred device for cross-border online shoppers (77%), but in China 53% of frequent cross-border online shoppers prefer to make purchases on a smartphone or a tablet.
The majority, (80%) of frequent cross-border online shoppers bought goods from China (29%), the United Kingdom (19%), Germany (14%), the United States (13%) and France (5%).
Chinese e-Commerce exports are dominated by the Alibaba Group with 69% of all orders placed on AliExpress or eBay, which sells in China on the Alibaba platform.
On average, clothing, footwear and apparel was the largest category (25%) for cross-border online shoppers, followed by consumer electronics (14%), and books, music and media (11%).
Key areas for improvement for delivery carriers remain reliability, tracking and transparency on customs duties and taxes consumers will have to pay when the parcel is delivered. Timely delivery is the most important element to be addressed for cross-border shopping as cross-border shoppers would like to know the specific date their order will be delivered.
The research was undertaken with 4,075 respondents across 17 countries in 11 languages in September – October 2015.
The full report is accessible for IPC members at:
https://www.ipc.be/en/programmes/e-commerce/online-shopper-survey
