A new survey of 2,000 US and UK consumers by commerce experience platform Nosto has revealed that 52% of consumer have purchased a product from an e-commerce site in another country in the past 12 months, with a further 23% considering shopping cross-border.
However, the report also highlights some worries for shoppers when buying internationally, with 92% of respondents admitting to concerns, with e-commerce returns problems (50%) and fears over products being poor quality (47%) or fake (46%) among the top worries.
The study showed 60% of respondents were less likely to trust an international e-commerce store compared to domestic ones, while 71% were unlikely to give them a second chance following a poor purchase experience compared to domestic stores.
Even when they see products they like, several factors will deter people from making cross-border purchases, such as products being priced suspiciously low (44%); a lack of clear information about additional cross-border fees/charges (41%); returns/refund policies (41%); and no clear details about delivery times to the shopper’s country (39%).
Winning trust
“At Nosto we’re seeing increasing interest from merchants looking to sell cross-border into many markets around the world – and while this research suggests that many consumers are open to it, a lack of trust remains a significant barrier,” said Matthäus Bognar general manager EMEA and APAC at Nosto.
“If you’re a retailer trying to sell into an international market, you must provide absolute clarity about all aspects of the purchase, delivery and returns process – including detailing any additional fees and local taxes – as well as providing strong localized social proof.
“This includes displaying user-generated content (UGC) like reviews and product photos from customers in the shopper’s own country – a powerful signal of trust. Delivering a familiar online experience is also crucial, ensuring currencies, delivery times and product recommendations are based on the shopper’s location.”
Focus areas
Nosto’s research highlights the three key areas that merchants should focus on to build trust with cross-border shoppers.
- Make key information visible and accessible: 69% of survey respondents said stores could increase trust by making policies about returns/refunds and additional cross-border taxes/duties clear and easy to find, while 65% said they’d have more trust if there was a customer support telephone number in their home country.
- Provide localized social proof: 64% of consumers said they’re likely to trust brands more if they see positive on-site reviews from other customers in their country and 55% if they see on-site product photos from peers in their home country who’ve made purchases. Similarly, 52% said they’re more likely trust brands based in other countries if they’re active and mentioned positively on social media channels they use and if their products are mentioned positively by influencers they follow (43%).
- Enhance trust with on-site localization to smooth the shopping experience. This includes automatically showing prices in the shopper’s home currency (mentioned by 64% of respondents) and recommending relevant products based on the shoppers’ location (40%).
Lower prices
The desire to find cheaper products from cross-border e-commerce stores is the main reason for buying from aboard, with 41% of respondents citing this reason while 16% were looking for better quality products.
Over half (53%) said that rising prices domestically also made them look for products from other countries, and 29% said they didn’t mind buying fake/counterfeit brand name products if they’re available cheaper from an online store abroad, rising to 45% for Generation Z (16–24-year-olds).
The US and UK marketing push by Chinese e-commerce marketplaces is driving interest, with over half (54%) of all consumers surveyed saying they’d heard of online marketplaces such as Temu and AliExpress and would consider ordering from them if they had products they were interested in.
However, environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors remained important, with 67% they wouldn’t buy from stores linked to factories with forced labor or poor working conditions, and 49% agreed that they were concerned about ordering international products online because of the environmental impact of transporting them.
For an overview of the research findings visit https://www.nosto.com/blog/consumer-research-cross-border-shopping/