PayPal have revealed key Global Shopper Insights for Merchants in their fourth-annual global cross border shopping report, having surveyed more than 34,000 consumers across 31 countries.
There are some really useful insights in the report for merchants wishing to expand their cross border sales, such as Ireland where only 16% of shoppers restrict themselves to buying from Irish sites – less than the 19% that always shop internationally. 65% of Irish shoppers buy domestically and overseas and this is likely due to the lack of choice and inventory available in Ireland.
Similarly, Austria and Israel are countries where shoppers are habitually with cross border shopping (Austria 82% and Isreal 79%).
The survey was designed to reveal insights in three main areas:
- How online commerce, and specifically cross border commerce is evolving
- How and why consumers shop online domestically & across borders
- How consumers pay for domestic and cross border transactions
Across the 31 countries surveyed, about 50% of consumers surveyed say they shop online internationally – led by 70 percent of Middle Eastern consumers and 62% of African consumers.
Mobile and tablet online purchasing is growing and approaching nearly half of all purchase volume in some of the world’s most populated countries. According to the survey, in China, 53% of purchases are made on a mobile or tablet, 48% in India and 45% in the US. With the exception of Eastern Europe, purchases on mobile and tablet devices make up 30% or more of total payment volume across the world. However, The majority of cross border shopping purchases are still on a computer. It’s only in the APAC markets where consumers are more likely than most to make cross border shopping purchases on an alternative device – in some territories this may be more to do with lack of Internet access other than on mobile devices.
PayPal’s survey findings highlight four key areas for merchants to hone in on to grow their global sales opportunities:
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Competitive pricing
The number one reason (72 percent) consumers across the globe cited they shop internationally is for better prices. Merchants who compete on price or offer discounts to shoppers will have a better chance at winning globally.
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Unique products
The second most cited reason consumers shop internationally is for the novelty of accessing items that are not available in their own country (49%) or to discover new and interesting products (34%).
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Local currency options
Three out of four consumers polled would prefer having an option to pay for their purchase in their local currency while six in 10 check conversion rates before making a purchase.
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Security and peace of mind
When choosing a payment method, “a secure way to pay” (44%) is international shoppers’ top consideration. Additionally, consumers cited they are looking for peace of mind that their order will get to them (24%) and that they can return it (22%) should anything be wrong with it.
You can view the full PayPal Cross Border Consumer Research 2018 report on the PayPal website.
