ECUSTOMERS 2022 DHL REPORT

International sales is key to growing your business. But how do you decide where and how you will sell? To help you, DHL has commissioned a survey of 5,000 online shoppers across Europe. By understanding their buying habits better, you can argue the knowledge needed to grow your business internationally.

Here are the results of our cross-border e-commerce study. European shoppers say delivery options have a huge impact on purchasing decisions.

More than half of the shoppers surveyed said that knowing the name of the supplier before paying for purchases is important.

Some shoppers hesitate to make purchases abroad because they do not feel safe enough and do not understand the rules and regulations.

Which countries do buyers prefer?

More than half of our international buyers spend at least once a month, and 20% believe they will buy more in the next year. Of all the countries we surveyed, Germany and the UK had the most purchases, followed by their close neighbours:

Age and Gender: Who to direct cross border sales

The largest buying group abroad is people between the ages of 25 and 44, but people aged 18 to 24 are more likely to buy abroad (75% vs. 64%).

UK Buyers: Brexit effect

Even though the UK has strong performance in cross-border exports, UK shoppers are much more specialised – only 36% buy in other countries. Brexit is certainly here to make British buyers feel less connected to the European continent. As a result, the real opportunity lies in other European markets.

DELIVERY PREFERENCES

Looking at general delivery preferences (given both cross border and domestic deliveries), our study showed that the vast majority of European shoppers prefer to supply home purchases, for example, 82% in France. The least popular option was to leave a shipment in a neighbor; it decided only 5%.

Unsurprisingly, the majority (73% on average) want home delivery, but it is worth including service points and parcel machines as options for your customers, as demand is growing in many countries.

Buyers divided over delivery costs

When it comes to delivery costs, customers were split into the purchase price or at the register. And it wasn’t just between countries but also in one country! In the UK, for example, exactly 50 per cent of shoppers wanted them included in the price, while 50 per cent wanted them shown in the basket.

However, everyone appreciates the ability to track the shipment

The ability to track its supply is for the buyer’s high importance 69% of Austria’s population, and in France, 94%. For those who make international purchases, the ability to track shipments is much more important than those who don’t make international purchases – 82% say it is very or quite important, compared to 75% of those who don’t make international purchases.

Strong Supplier Strength

From Delivery to Return Shipment

For most European online shoppers, paying for returns is a daunting factor. In Spain, 62% say they only buy online stores that offer free returns.

4 DHL Tips for Returns

1. Is your package suitable for return travel?
   Make sure the product packaging is sturdy enough to survive the return journey.
2. Make the process clear and easy
   Do you provide pre-printed return label? What collection points do you offer?
3. Offer simple pickup options
   Choose a logistics carrier with a large number of pick-up points. The parcel machine options are also a great addition.
4. Confirm and return money quickly
   Notify customers that the item has been accepted and return money quickly.

Does sustainability matter to buyers?

Yes, absolutely. In all markets, buyers perceive sustainability as an important, 53% of them say yes.  The only places where the interest was below 50% were Czech Republic (48%) and the Netherlands (40%).

Sustainability Assurance

In general, younger age groups were willing to pay more – almost one-third of people under 34 would always choose to pay more, compared to just 15% of people over 55.

Similarly, they shared their customers when they were asked about the possibility to pay for sustainable packaging.

Consumers will wait longer if delivery is more sustainable

Our results conflict with the conventional belief that fast delivery and immediate facilitation payments are most important to shoppers online.

Buying Behavior

Europe’s e-commerce market is growing. However, not everything is perfect in the world of online shopping and, just as European shoppers are turning away from stationary shopping, they believe there is still room for improvement in the online shopping experience.

Consumers want to make the most of their everyday life experience with clear photos that are interested. For brands, providing high quality and consistent experience across the entire sales system is key.

What devices do they prefer?

Throughout Europe we found that old shoppers prefer to use laptops and younger ones from smartphones. Laptops are generally more popular.

In all markets we found that younger people are more likely to browse websites. And the vast majority is looking for the best deals. For example, French shoppers can prefer to finalize their purchase on a laptop, but the percentage of the smartphone to review products before purchasing has increased nearly twice between 2015 and 2022.

Do customer reviews influence purchasing behaviour?

When buyers are approaching their purchase, most of them perceive reviews as important and review them before making a final decision. Encourage customers to leave reviews. Buyers are untrustworthy about products or brands that do not have any reviews and are highly likely to influence the opinions of previous customers. Active and open customer engagement through their reviews can show that brands treat their opinions seriously. It is also an opportunity to make customers feel valued in the brand whose ideas and opinions are valued.

The request is clear: always encourage customers to leave reviews. Buyers are untrustworthy about products or brands that do not have any reviews and are highly likely to influence the opinions of previous customers. Active and open customer engagement through their reviews can show that brands treat their opinions seriously. It is also an opportunity to make customers feel valued in the brand whose ideas and opinions are valued.

How do buyers pay?

It is not surprising that the most popular payment method across Europe is a credit or debit card. However, age matters too. In Germany and UK, people aged 18 to 24 are more likely to use Google or Apple Pay than those over 55 years of age (13% to 3% in Germany and 16% to 1% in the UK).

"The long term preference for German cash payments is changing gradually" says Dominic Harrison, Trends Director, Foresight Factory Consulting Firm. "Online, digital wallets became the leading payment center: Paypal is the most popular online payment method, leading to the and payment of a card (which can often involve additional charges and charges)."

Country Specific Payment Preferences

We found that several countries have a surprising payment: both in Sweden and Germany about 20% of shoppers would like to receive an invoice; in Poland 29% would like to pay a bank transfer; in Poland, nearly 20% would like to pay for the download.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: HOW THE STUDY RESULTS AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS

1. Provide customers with multiple delivery options
   Remember to select which carriers you use. This is important to give customers confidence that their shipment has been delivered safely 75% of shoppers have lost their shopping cart because their preferred delivery option was not available.
2. Offer widest payment options
   More payment options - from Paypal and Apple Pay to invoice or even cryptowesmeans more sales.
3. Don’t focus on smartphones only
   Laptops are still widely used for online purchases. Make sure your site is easy to use and clearly optimized for ALL devices.
4. Provide easy returns
   Make the process simple and straightforward, and return money quickly. If at all possible, do not charge for returns.
5. Get a trusted delivery partner to avoid losing leads
   More than half of the buyers found that knowing the identity of a trusted delivery partner is important to them.
6. Your customers want to be green
   Sustainability takes a very high position in your customer’s shopping list, many of which are ready for the green delivery.
7. Having a social media store will be percent
   Social networking is evolving across the continent – over half of shoppers use social platforms to purchase.
8. Online reviews matter
   More customers are reaching online reviews to verify their potential purchases. In Sweden alone 99% of customers said reviews impact their buying behaviour.
9. You must convince the customer to purchase
   Up to 40% of shoppers often browse websites two or three times a week. It’s also worth knowing that many people view and analyse websites before buying in the store.