Is China One of Your Top Global Shopping Destinations?
In a recent release from PayPal, it revealed that China now beats the U.S. as a top global shopping destination. "For the first time in the survey's three-year history, China is the most popular cross-border online shopping destination for global online shoppers (21 percent of all online shoppers interviewed claimed to have shopped cross-border from Chinese websites in the past 12 months), followed by the U.S. (17 percent) and U.K. (13 percent)."
Also according to the release, the search for a good deal is what is driving the current cross-border shoppers. "Seventy-six percent of global consumers polled who shop cross-border cited better prices as a reason for shopping in another country instead of the country where they live." Another reason for having made purchases internationally.was "gaining access to items not available in their own country" (selected by 65 percent)
But free shipping (selected by 46 percent of global online shoppers) and a secure way to pay (44 percent) are the top factors that could drive more cross-border shopping in terms of what would
make online shoppers more likely to buy from a website in another
country.
The release makes the point that the distinction between these insights is what is important for merchants - "to retain a current cross-border shopper, better pricing is key." But "to motivate a shopper who may have never shopped cross-border before, free shipping and a secure way to pay are paramount in converting them."
Do you find your buying habits following this pattern? In the past, some buyers were hesitant to purchase items from China, wary of the quality, or, in the case of luxury goods, if the items were authentic. In my recent shopping on eBay looking for winter coats, I noticed a lot of the coats were listed from China, and had very desirable prices including free shipping.
What about the other countries in the survey results? Do you stick to the U.S. for the most part in buying on sites such as eBay, and do you find yourself shopping more from the U.K., which was third in the survey results?