Report: Half of US consumers embrace cross-border shopping

Atlanta, GA — June 13, 2017.  A new customer experience study from UPS has found that 47% percent of U.S. consumers have made a purchase from an overseas merchant in 2017. 36% said they wanted unique products, not available on the domestic U.S. market, while most online shoppers cite lower overseas prices as a main incentive for making a cross-border purchase.

cross-border-shopping
Retail has become truly global with more U.S. consumers purchasing online from international retailers.
In the past, consumers who made purchases from international retailers primarily did so to get unique items. While nding unique items is still a driver for international shopping, better prices from international retailers on U.S. marketplaces is the top reason shoppers make purchases from international retailers. 2017 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™, UPS©

The number of frequent online shoppers has increased by 4% from 2016. Marketplaces have been an important drive for this growth, according to a new report. Despite decreasing importance of free shipping, it’s still a major sales driver as three in five U.S. online shoppers do not go through with the checkout process if there is no free shipping option, data from the newly released report shows.

Shopping on smartphones is growing year-over-year with 48% of smartphone users having made a purchase on a smartphone, up seven points since 2015. Millennials make the most purchases on their smartphones with 29% of their purchases being made via smartphones versus non-millennials at 10%. Retailer smartphone apps are also growing in popularity with eight in 10 consumers using them, o en preferring apps to retailer websites due to faster speed and a better user experience.2017 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™, UPS©

A report from UPS, one of the largest U.S. freight companies, also highlights the strong growth of mobile e-commerce. UPS in collaboration with comScore found that millennials make the most purchases on their smartphones with 29% of their purchases being made via smartphones versus non-millennials at 10%. Online purchases made via smartphone have gone up by seven points (48%) since 2015.

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