How The World Shops Cross-border
10 February 2015 - 12:10AM
Business Wire
New study on trends in global cross-border
shopping
Results from a new study commissioned by FedEx (FDX) and
conducted by Forrester Consulting on the priorities and preferences
of global online shoppers, indicate how truly global online
shopping has become. In an effort to better understand global
purchasing behavior in cross-border e-commerce, researchers
questioned over 9000 respondents in 17 countries and territories,
as well as conducted interviews with small-and-medium businesses
with cross-border operations.
With online buying behavior currently representing over $1
trillion in sales per year and forecasted to nearly double in the
next four years according to Forrester Research data, the findings
of the paper, “Seizing The Cross-Border Opportunity,”* are
revealing. Clothing and apparel are the most popular online
purchase, along with books, electronics and cosmetics. The study
also found a significant part of ecommerce shopping globally
involves cross-border shipments.
“This research provides deep insight into the priorities and
preferences of global online customers and highlights how small and
mid-sized retailers can better take advantage of the cross-border
opportunity,” said Raj Subramaniam, executive vice president,
Global Marketing, FedEx. ”Knowledge about both the cultural
similarities and differences in geographic markets can help
businesses gain real online retail advantage.”
GLOBAL CROSS-BORDER
RESULTS:
- 82% of global respondents report
making an online purchase from a merchant outside their home
country. These rates vary minimally across regions from a high of
90% of Canadians reporting purchasing cross-border compared to a
low of 59% of Japanese. On average, these customers reported
spending about $300 on cross-border items a year.
- Primary online shopping destinations
are the US, China and the UK. While shoppers indicated
purchasing cross-border from all 17 international markets included
in the study, the US, China and the UK were the top 3 exporters of
online purchases. 91% of Canadians who responded reported making
their cross-border purchases from the US, with Latin American
shoppers sourcing from the US as well, including 68% of Brazilians
who responded. Europeans have a tendency to order within the EU,
although UK businesses ship primarily to the US and Australia.
Shoppers in Japan and Korea stated they purchase more frequently
from the US than they do from their APAC neighbors.
- Cross-border shoppers prefer to
purchase from well-known major multi-brand retailers and global
online marketplaces. In fact, the majority of respondents in
every country surveyed ranked major multi-brand online retailers or
marketplaces as their first choice out of five business types for
cross-border purchases. The findings indicate an effective way for
SME retailers to enter the global arena is through online
marketplaces.
- Duties and taxes curb cross-border
activity. While shipping cost and delivery time are top of mind
with shoppers, over a third of global respondents cited high
duties/taxes as a concern for cross-border shopping. The impact of
duties and taxes was even more pronounced when researchers explored
creating a standard duty free threshold. If all online purchases
under $200 USD (localized) were duty free, 56% of global
respondents would increase their cross-border shopping. Regionally,
the hypothetical limit had the greatest impact on Latin American
shoppers, with 80% of those respondents predicting an increase in
their cross-border shopping. At the country level, 71% of
respondents in India and 80% respondents in China indicated the
same.
“The results of this study on global trends suggests that
streamlining regulations by harmonizing duty free limits across the
globe could result in a significant uptick in cross-border trade,
benefitting consumers and businesses around the world,” said David
Cunningham, chief operating officer & president, international,
FedEx Express.
U.S. AND OTHER RESULTS
The online survey ** offers a glimpse into American’s
cross-border shopping habits, as well. Results show that 67% of US
respondents indicated they buy items online at least once a month
and a little over 30% say they make online purchases of goods from
merchants outside their country at least every few months.
What all this means for the small and mid-size businesses is
they also have an opportunity to take advantage of regional
differences. Most Americans in the survey look to international SME
retailers for specialty and unique items, in fact 51% of Americans
vs 34% of global respondents cited it was the availability of
‘specialty/hard to find items’ as a reason for shopping
cross-border.
Americans also indicated a greater interest in international
cross-border shopping where the experience provided simple
exchanges, guaranteed costs at check-out including duties and
taxes, and free returns.
In a world of globalized shopping, cross-border ecommerce
appears destined to grow exponentially, benefitting small and
mid-size businesses and consumers with exciting and expanding
opportunities. Whether the customers find retailers through word of
mouth, search engines, or ads, the best results will no doubt come
from having a reliable logistics provider with global network
expertise that excels in helping online businesses go global from
Day One.
* “Seizing The Cross-Border Opportunity,” a commissioned study
conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of FedEx, December
2014To read: www.fedex.com/ecommerce
** commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of FedEx, August 2014
About the research study
Forrester Consulting conducted an online survey in September
2014 of 9,006 global online consumers and interviewed 34 small and
medium size businesses with international e-commerce operations in
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong
Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South
Korea, the UK, and the US to evaluate the current attitudes toward
and experiences with cross-border shopping and order fulfilment,
including the challenges and concerns faced by both groups in
expanding these practices. Consumer survey participants included
those aged 18 or older who have ordered a physical item shipped to
themselves or another recipient over the internet within the past
12 months. Small and medium-size business interviewees were asked
about the factors leading to their decisions to start an
international e-commerce business, their experiences and challenges
with fulfilling such orders, and the factors that may enable them
to expand this practice. The study took place between July and
September 2014.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses
worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and
business services. With annual revenues of $47 billion, the company
offers integrated business applications through operating companies
competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the
respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most
admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 300,000
team members to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety,
the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of
their customers and communities. For more information, visit
news.fedex.com.
FedEx Corp.Sharon Young, 901-871-2919 or 301-526-4801Global
Communicationssharon.young@fedex.com
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