66 Percent of Consumers Now Shop Cross-Border
with New Consumer Insights Creating Unprecedented Global
Opportunity for Retailers and Marketplaces
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), a global technology leader providing
innovative products and solutions powering anywhere-to-everywhere
commerce, today announced the results of the third annual Pitney
Bowes Global Online Shopping Survey, which finds that cross-border
ecommerce has become prevalent among consumers around the world.
It’s no surprise that consumers frequently make domestic online
purchases (94%), however more than two-thirds (66%) of consumers
that have ever made a domestic online purchase 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
U.S. (45%) are still growing in cross-border confidence.
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The World Shops
The survey findings suggest that online shopping has become a
way of life for many shoppers. Nearly one-third of these consumers
now say they make domestic online purchases on a daily or weekly
basis, with over two-thirds in China reporting this regularity. As
domestic online shopping becomes more frequent, it can create
familiarity and comfort to reach across borders. Not surprisingly,
cross-border shopping occurs less frequently than domestic shopping
with the majority of consumers (58%) shopping monthly or annually.
Top countries for monthly/annual cross-border shopping include
Australia (78%), Singapore (77%), Canada (72%), Mexico (71%) and
Hong Kong (70%).
What also drives cross-border shopping is the
mutually-beneficial union between physical stores and online
shopping, which could provide a huge opportunity for retailers and
brands. Survey findings uncovered that 63 percent of consumers that
have shopped cross-border are now participating in what Pitney
Bowes is describing as “In-store Global. Online Local.” This
phenomenon is when consumers make in-store purchases during their
international travels, and follow up with online purchases from
that same cross-border retailer. Most cross-border shoppers in
South Korea, China and India cited that they often or always
revisit a retailer online following international travels.
Shopping Here, There and Everywhere
Today’s consumers have the power of choice, whether choosing to
shop online direct to a retailer website or an online marketplace,
and the study shows that consumers like it that way. In fact, while
consumers may have a preference for one channel over the other,
very few shop exclusively through one online channel.
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.
“Consumers across the world have spoken. We have moved beyond
the days of marketplace or retailer; in-store or online; or even
in-country or cross-border,” says Lila Snyder, President, Global
Ecommerce, 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.”
Shopping in the Mobile Age
Throughout the shopping journey, mobile devices are playing an
increasingly greater role. Roughly half of shoppers in Singapore
(51%), India (50%), Mexico (49%) and China (47%) were most likely
to use a mobile device (including tablets and phones) for browsing.
When it comes to order tracking, over half of shoppers in China,
Hong Kong, India, Singapore and South Korea use these devices. Even
though mobile is not the first choice for completing a purchase
(33%), surveyed shoppers often use their mobile device for part of
the shopping journey. For example, in the U.S. one-third of
shoppers (33%) use mobile for completing a purchase, however 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.
Survey results uncovered insight into how consumers are finding
products online. While marketplaces (62%), search engines (43%) and
retailers’ sites (39%) continue to be popular discovery tools,
countries like Hong Kong (26%), Australia (24%) and Singapore (22%)
rely on email communications to find new products. And now nearly
one-fifth (19%) of consumers are discovering new products through
social media channels, especially in Hong Kong (45%), Mexico (32%),
India and Singapore (both 30%). In fact, Hong Kong consumers are
just as likely to use social channels to discover new products as
they are a retailer’s website, while consumers in Mexico are more
likely to use social media than visit a retailer’s website.
Getting the Basics Right Still Matters
The need for choice was also evident with regard to payment
types. 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. Choice
again proved to be a crucial theme, as limiting options for payment
alienates a significant number of would-be consumers. 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, despite merchants’ efforts to improve their shipping
and returns processes. When asked about holiday shopping, 42
percent of consumers say they experienced related challenges when
shopping online for the 2015 holiday season. In fact, even the most
basic elements of the customer experience, such as shipping the
right item; accuracy in address and tracking; a transparent returns
policy; and proper duty and tax were all cited as challenges. Hong
Kong (65%), India (59%), South Korea (55%), Singapore and China
(both 54%) were among the countries experiencing the greatest
headaches with online shopping during the 2015 holiday season. Even
in the U.S., almost a third of consumers (31%) 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.
Methodology
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. The survey was conducted in August 2016.
About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI), is a global technology company
powering billions of transactions – physical and digital – in the
connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the
world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products,
solutions and services from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer
information management, location intelligence, customer engagement,
shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative
Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of
Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For
additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of
Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.
# # #
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161011006722/en/
Pitney Bowes Inc.Kathy Raymond,
203-351-7233Kathleen.raymond@pb.com
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