Consumers increasingly comfortable with cross-border ecommerce

Earlier this year, data from Bronto Software revealed that consumers in the UK are just as keen to make purchases beyond their country’s borders. Eighty percent said they would consider making a purchase from an online retailer outside the UK and 44% said they had already done so. Millennials were found to be the age group most likely to purchase from an overseas online retailer.

New global research reveals that consumers across the world are increasingly comfortable shopping online across borders, more so in Asia. The research, from Pitney Bowes, found that while 94% shop online frequently within their own home markets, two-thirds (66%) have also made a purchase online from outside their country.

The countries with the highest number of cross-border shoppers are all in the APAC region with Singapore taking top spot (89%) followed by Australia (86%) and Hong Kong (85%).

Around half of global consumers say that all or most of their online shopping, both domestic and cross-border, comes via an online marketplace and the top countries for this activity are Japan (70%), China (61%), Germany (59%) and India (55%).

“Consumers across the world have spoken. We have moved beyond the days of marketplace or retailer; in-store or online; or even in-country or cross-border,” said Lila Snyder, President of Global Ecommerce at Pitney Bowes. “The world is shopping – everywhere – as new consumer behaviors and trends have emerged.”