The secrets of e-shopping by foreign customers

PayPal and Ipsos published the third annual report of cross-border trade. The results of the global survey, which…
studied the online domestic and cross-border purchasing patterns among more than 28,000 consumers in 32 countries, reveals the new preferences of cross-border buyers and highlights the most important trends in the field of global e-commerce.
More and more Greek traders, selling abroad and expand their business at international level. In this way, the cross-border trade is constantly growing. The main markets in which they buy goods and services from Greece through PayPal is the united states, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.
What motivates their international cross-border e–shoppers and what are they looking for?
Cross-border e–consumers from all over the world are still interested to find attractive offers. 76% of the respondents of cross-border e–shoppers ranked the best rates as a reason for making purchases on websites of the three top destinations. Access to species not available in their home country was classified also high (65%) as an incentive for markets worldwide.
The most popular categories for cross-border shopping internationally is the clothing, footwear and accessories (46% of the respondents cross-border buyers from all countries has made a purchase from abroad in this category in the past 12 months), consumer electronics (29%), travel services (25%), the digital entertainment and educational goods (24%), as well as the games, toys and hobbies (23%).
Traditionally, the winter season of holidays is one of the most active consumer periods. A new study shows that this period is also particularly important for online markets, and consumers shop relevant markets, not only in local but also in online stores abroad. For example, the research showed that Christmas is the specific period of time during which 38% of cross-border buyers, which was asked from all over the world claims that she can make purchases from websites in other countries more so than usual.
“In the end what matters is the transparency and reliability of the trader: factors such as the description or the shipping costs should be identified easily and economically, from the side of the commercial site” – gloss Matt Komorowski, Managing Director of PayPal Central and Eastern Europe.
“Cross-border trade may become for traders a source of vital importance for the steady upward trajectory of their income. PayPal, our desire is to help our customers to have access to new international market opportunities and for this reason we actively give to the Greeks traders tools and services, such as the Buyers and Sellers Protection and the PayPal Refunded Returns in order to help them to expand their business abroad”.
Attracting the customer outside the border
International sales are an essential opportunity for traders around the world for the extension of their business – especially considering the growth dynamic of e–commerce. However, there are some additional challenges that were highlighted in the recent report:
The comfort of the customer is one of the key driving forces for cross-border markets internationally. The main factors that may induce buyers to make purchases from an electronic store of a foreign country include the following: free shipping (selected by 46% of online consumers) a safe way of payment (44%), followed by the goods that may be difficult at the local level (40%), appearance of the price in local currency (37%) and the lowest total cost (35%).
Transport is one of the main issues for many online shoppers. When asked about obstacles related to purchases from foreign online stores, the online shoppers to choose the modes of shipping costs (35% of online buyers surveyed internationally), are concerned about the possibility of non-delivery of the product (33%), any delay in the delivery time (29%) and are also concerned about the possibility of the product not corresponding to the given description (29%).
The safety guides the choice of method of payment. On 24 of the 32 countries that participated in the survey, the PayPal is the most frequently reported cross-border payment method. An equally interesting fact is that the most often presented reason that urged online shoppers to choose PayPal instead of another payment method is that you will be able to secure a refund in the event of non-delivery of the product or a discrepancy with the description.
When the issue of cross-border sales, it is important to know the basic information and data of each target market, including dates of local sale periods, holidays and customs. The PayPal offers to the cooperating merchants in a special web portal of the PassPort, which contains important information on the biggest markets internationally.
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