European consumers prefer to buy online from China: survey

2017-02-09
People's Daily Online

A survey released recently by the International Post Corporation (IPC) indicated that purchases made through Amazon, eBay and Alibaba occupy two-thirds of global cross-border e-commerce. China leads as the most popular market for consumers around the world, accounting for 26 percent of recent cross-border purchases, Beijing Business Today reported on Feb 6.

IPC sent questionnaires to over 24,000 consumers in 26 markets across North America, the Asia-Pacific and Europe. Statistics shows that, compared with consumers in other countries, Chinese people are more likely to shop online, with 36 percent buying something online at least once a week.

Free delivery and return policies are important elements driving cross-border e-commerce. Chinese consumers enjoy the largest number of free deliveries anywhere in the world, accounting for 78 percent of the total.

China is the most popular market for online consumers, followed by the US, Germany and UK. The US and China are the main markets for cross-border e-commerce in the Asia-Pacific and Canada. European consumers buy most from the Chinese market. However, residents of Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland mainly buy from neighboring countries, which share a common language.

The top four product categories purchased through cross-border e-commerce are shoes, hats and clothes; consumer electronics; books, music and media; and health and beauty. Most of the commodities are relatively light and inexpensive.