The results of a study show that shipping-related factors are the most common and influential concerns when making online purchases, highlighting the importance of the logistics industry to cross-border e-commerce.
The study, which was commissioned by FedEx Express and carried out by Forrester Consulting, examined 34 small and medium-sized international e-commerce businesses in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the US, asking about their experiences and challenges with fulfilling orders. Approximately 9,000 online consumers were also interviewed about their attitudes and experiences.
In the Asia-Pacific region, 52 percent of consumers were concerned about high shipping costs when considering cross-border purchases online, while 45 percent were concerned about long delivery times. These were the top two concerns overall.
Long delivery times and high shipping costs are also the two main problems that shoppers have personally experienced, according to the report. In particular, 46 percent of Koreans and 44 percent of Singaporeans said that they had experienced long delivery times, while 49 percent of Indians and 41 percent of Singaporeans had experienced high shipping costs.
Additionally, six of the top seven most influential factors when thinking about shopping online were related to logistics, such as free or reduced shipping costs with minimum purchase, free returns or exchanges, delivery time guarantees and package tracking.
According to the report, many of the successful merchants that had been interviewed work closely with at least one major logistics provider.
“Such providers can provide global coverage, delivery speed/consistency, and competitive, cost,” said the report. “What really distinguishes the preferred providers, though, is the service and support in calculating taxes and duties, filling out paperwork, allowing a merchant to bill upfront for duties, and simplifying cross-border returns.”
– Jeffrey Lee
