Half of UK online shoppers purchase with international retailers

These are the findings of a report released by digital market research agency eDigitalResearch and IMRG. Price and availability are the main reasons why UK online consumers prefer cross-border shopping. 60% of the respondents who have shopped cross border claim that they choose to purchase with a retailer outside of the UK because of better prices, while another 60% said that they made the purchase because they could not find the product they wanted in the UK. Another 18% stated their purchase decision was driven by better products on offer.

Clothing, footwear and jewellery are the most popular items with UK shoppers to purchase from a retailer aboard, followed by music, books and gifts - items whose size and weight are not likely to add too much to any costly delivery charges.The results reveal that the majority of UK consumers spend up to GBP 50 per transaction with international retailers. Two thirds (64%) of cross-border shoppers who have purchased clothing, footwear or jewellery have spent up to GBP 50, whilst a similar number (68%) have spent a similar amount with retailers outside the UK when purchasing gifts.

However, delivery charges and timescales still remain the biggest barriers for people purchasing overseas. Of those online consumers surveyed, all 2,000 feel that costly delivery charges could prevent them from making a purchase with a non-UK retailer, followed by 85% who could be put off by long delivery timescales and 79% who have concerns around security.

The eCustomerServiceIndex (eCSI) survey of 2,035 online shoppers was conducted between 9th and 15th July 2014 using a nationally representative sample from a consumer omnibus panel.

Check out our Cross-border Ecommerce Research section here for more info on country-specific ecommerce facts & figures, preferred payment methods, risk and fraud, as well as ecommerce legislation & regulation in the UK.