78% of Aussies are cross-border online shoppers

Nearly four in five (78%) Australian consumers buy products from overseas online at least once per year, according to e-commerce solutions provider Pitney Bowes.

Australia was the top market for monthly and annual cross-border online commerce among the 13 countries included in a global survey of online shopping habits.

Among consumers who have ever made a domestic online purchase, 86% of Australian respondents to the survey have also made a purchase from another country in the past year. This was the second-highest proportion after Singapore (89%).

While globally around half of consumers conduct all or most of their purchases from an online marketplace, in Australia 33% prefer to make purchases from the retailer’s direct site, the third-highest among the 13 countries. Another segment of consumers has no preference between the two channels.

There is also a strong trend towards consumers making purchases in-store while travelling to another country, and continuing to buy these products online after returning home. Pitney Bowes calls this trend “In-store Global, Online Local” and said 63% of consumers that have shopped cross-border have engaged in this behaviour.

“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,” Pitney Bowes President of Global e-Commerce Lila Snyder said.

“The world is shopping — everywhere — as new consumer behaviours and trends have emerged. Entering the holiday season and a new year, retailers and marketplaces alike should take note and capitalise on these shifts in consumer behaviour, which open up new opportunities for brands and retailers at home and abroad.”

The survey shows that nearly a quarter of Australian consumers rely on email to discover new products, a higher proportion than any of the 13 markets barring Hong Kong (26%). The most popular discovery tools globally are marketplaces, search engines and retailers’ sites.

Markets covered by the story include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the US.

Image courtesy of Simon Adriaensen under CC