Dive Brief:
- Frequent online shoppers make 24% of purchases at websites outside of their home countries, according to UPS’ "Pulse of the Online Shopper" report, and half of those purchases go to U.S. sites.
- Most (54%) of shoppers in the United States have made an online purchase from a retailer outside the country, the survey says.
- Cross-border shipping will quadruple from $80 billion in 2014 to $330 billion by 2020, UPS predicts, and fulfill 11% of online retail purchases.
Dive Insight:
UPS' most recent "Pulse of the Online Shopper" survey, conducted by comScore, says that the web continues to break down borders worldwide. Among respondents who said they make at two or more online purchases in a typical three-month period, 24% went to sites outside their home countries to shop—and half those sites were in the United States.
In the U.S. 54% of shoppers have bought from a foreign site. Mexican shoppers came in second in international shopping, with 39% purchasing abroad, and Brazilians were next with 36%. Consumers in the Western Hemisphere were especially likely to look to U.S.-based retailers, with 23% of Brazilian shoppers turning to U.S. sites and 26% of Mexicans.
U.S. consumers shop foreign sites looking for lower prices (49%), to find a brand or product that’s not available in the U.S. (43%) and to find unique items (35%). In Asia, Europe, Brazil and Mexico, shoppers were most often buying products unavailable in their regions, with lower prices second in importance.
UPS says that shipping across borders is set to explode in the next five years, growing to $330 billion by 2020 from $80 billion in 2014. To streamline international shipments—each of which is affected by local rules and regulations on package contents and import duties—UPS and other companies have integrated foreign costs into their interfaces.