28-02-2018
When buying online cross-border, the vast majority of consumers want to know the full cost of delivery before purchase. Clear information about delivery charges before purchase was seen as very important by 70% of respondents and rather/very important by 93%. These are some of the findings of the recently released IPC Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey.
A landed cost calculator at check-out is therefore considered a good solution by consumers to increase transparency on delivery costs and customs duties. It is seen as very important by 51% of respondents and as rather/very important by 82%, and also shows the biggest increase in importance compared to the previous year (+6%).
Free delivery on purchases over a particular value was considered very important or rather important by 88% of respondents.
This year’s survey reveals that free shipping for cross-border purchases continues to increase: 62% of respondents received free shipping for their most recent cross-border e-commerce purchase, an increase of 3% compared to the previous year. 41% received free shipping through a retailer offer, 9% thanks to a promotion (e.g. Black Friday), 9% due to the product value and 3% via a loyalty programme (e.g. Amazon Prime). Russian (83%), and Chinese (76%) consumers benefited the most from free shipping, followed by Austrians, Hungarians and Spaniards (70%).
13% of consumers paid customs duties or customs clearances fees for their most recent cross-border online purchase. Of the respondents who had to pay for customs, almost half (48%) of them paid it while making the online purchase. Non-European consumers, who are more used to paying customs fees, tended to pay upfront, while European customers, who have less customs experience due to the EU Single Market, tended to pay customs at a later stage.