When it comes to the world of e-commerce, the shopper is king. E-tailers looking to grow their sales and market share know that attracting and converting browsers into buyers is really the only thing that matters. But getting them to do just that can be a challenging and sometimes complex task.
The golden question is, ‘What’s driving shoppers to spend and subscribe online?’. Each year, DHL commissions an Online Shopper Trends Report, surveying 12,000 shoppers in 24 countries to really dig out the insights that matter for online retailers.
Adjusting to the audience
Not a big surprise: more than half (52%) of shoppers around the globe order online once a week. But what’s important is that those shoppers differ greatly depending on which region and country you look at.
If you want to access the Indian market, it’s worth optimizing your content for voice assistants, as Alexa, Siri, Google and the like have been used by 58% of Indians. If you’re keen on selling to Spain, France and the lucrative UK market, consumers want free returns or they’ll take their business elsewhere. And for countries such as Turkey, it’s all about price, with 74% of Turkish shoppers saying cost is very important to them.
The takeaway? Marketers and commercial officers need to ensure they have an innate understanding of their audiences, especially if they’re running a multi-country e-commerce site and have cross-border operations.
Customer reviews lend credibility
One of the most interesting results from this year’s report is around the chatter of customer reviews. We found that 91% of shoppers consult reviews before making a purchase, which means that reviews are not just a gold mine of insights but a way to turn clicks into checkouts.
Smart e-commerce marketers will integrate reviews into each listing and incentivize users to not just post positive text reviews but, where possible, include photos – customer reviews with images is the fifth biggest improvement overall that online shoppers want to see. More than that, merchants could turn to video, giving consumers real-life, authentic examples of a product or service in action.
Subscription services as a revenue stream
The report found that 35% of shoppers across the globe have an online shopping subscription. But here’s the real kicker: this number jumps to 43% for those aged 45 and under, and a whopping 64% for so-called ‘social media shoppers’. It seems that younger consumers and the social media savvy can’t resist the allure of regular, curated deliveries.
Obviously, there’s an upside there – not just in terms of revenue but also in more predictable logistics patterns, as you can plan with your delivery partner to ensure a regular cadence for your customers.
Delivery options as a differentiator
You’ve got the perfect product portfolio, best-in-class CX and you’ve cracked the pricing model. But, surprisingly, hitting that ‘buy’ button is often also about the delivery options you offer – 95% of online shoppers we asked said that delivery options influence where they choose to shop.
For e-tailers, that means that strong delivery partnerships can dramatically increase conversion. Tangibly, that means choosing delivery partners that are trusted by the consumers you’re targeting (66% say the delivery provider influences their purchasing decision), offering different delivery speeds and solving the last-mile logistics conundrum.
Sustainability as a selling point
One of the most stable outcomes is around sustainability. As with our report last year, 20% of online shoppers are willing to pay more for a ‘green’ delivery and 59% of them say that buying from sustainable companies is quite important to them.
Eco-conscious consumers are here to stay and, in some segments – like social commerce, where over two-thirds (77%) state that sustainability is critical to get them to check out their cart – it’s important to address this topic.
The key to success? Transparency. Interestingly, 68% of ‘frequent’ shoppers that we surveyed wanted to see the CO2 emissions of their deliveries, which would be a quick win for most vendors, as leading delivery partners should be able to provide this information with ease.
For more insights, visit dhl.com/online-purchasing-report
This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International.
