The growth of cross-border ecommerce: stats

Shoppers in Europe are becoming more comfortable with ecommerce, and many are now buying from other countries, says new data.

Shoppers in Europe are becoming more comfortable with ecommerce, and many are now buying from other countries. 

The study finds that 11m more European consumers shopped abroad at least once in 2014 than in the previous year, a stat that underlines growing consumer confidence in online shopping.

In all 159m European consumers shopped abroad (online) in 2014:

 

Cross border ecommerce

 

Postnord’s Ecommerce in Europe 2015 report presents a detailed picture of the state of online retail across the continent.

 

Cross-border ecommerce

The UK is the biggest market for cross-border ecommerce, with 31% of online shoppers buying from a British site in 2014, followed by Germany (23%).

This reflects the maturity of the UK ecommerce market, as well as the efforts made by retailers like ASOS and House of Fraser to appeal to foreign markets.

As the chart shows, almost half of all European shoppers have shopped from foreign sites at some point, with customers from the Nordics and UK most likely to.

 

International ecommerce

 

There are regional variations here. For example, Dutch and Belgian consumers prefer to shop from their neighbour, while most cross border purchases from Nordic shoppers come from the UK or Germany.

The US is also a significant market for European shoppers,with most orders coming from the UK.

 

ecommerce us

 

What makes people shop from overseas?

Many of the UK’s best known retailers have been expanding into other markets over the past few years, but what should they consider when trying to appeal to foreign markets?

 

Payment options

Payment options should suit the customer’s needs. While paying by credit or debit card is the most popular method in most of the nine markets covered in the study, there are variations.

For example, the most popular payment method in Poland is bank transfer, while cash on delivery and payment by invoice is very popular in Germany.

 

payment options

 

While online retailers shouldn’t necessarily offer all of these methods, they should try to appeal to the broadest possible customer base.

In this case, a combination of card payments with PayPal and similar services should appeal to the majority of European shoppers.

Here, Net A Porter offers PayPal on top of the usual credit card options for German customers.

 

Payment options

 

Delivery

Timing is important here. The majority of consumers expect goods to be delivered within three days.

These stats show customer expectations around delivery in general, not just cross-border deliveries.

However, the key here is to manage customer expectations and ensure that goods arrive when you say they will.

 

delivery european ecommerce

 

Sites should be upfront about times and costs, as Net A Porter is here:

 

Net a Porter delivery

Returns

One potential drawback for customers ordering from foreign ecommerce sites is the issue of returns.

Customers expect clear returns policies if they are to commit to a purchase, and this becomes more important when shopping from abroad.

 

euro ecommerce returns

 

Sites need to be upfront about returns policies, making the process and potential charges for returns clear to shoppers.

Here, House of Fraser explains the process clearly.

 

international returns

 

Key to all of this is identifying a reliable courier which can take care of deliveries and returns for your international customers.

 

In summary

The issues covered here are those that consumers were questioned on for the report, but there are other important considerations for retailers selling internationally. 

For example, retailers need to be sensitive to cultural differences and produce content to suit the target market. What works in the UK will not necessarily appeal to a German or Polish shopper.

Likewise, the effectiveness of design and site features changes by country, so testing for each audience is essential to maximise conversions.

There is clearly an appetite amongst consumers though, and I expect this trend of cross-border ecommerce to continue in the same direction.

For the full Ecommerce in Europe report, follow this link

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