The majority of Austrian online shoppers consider reliable and fast delivery and shipment tracking highly important while women tend to use more modern technology than men, with the trend increasingly going towards mobile shopping, a recent survey by GLS Austria has shown.
Conducted by Marketagent.com, one of the largest digital market and research institutes in Austria, on behalf of GLS Austria, the study reviews the current e-commerce trends in the country.
The vast majority (80%) of the respondents indicated that they purchased products on the internet in the last six months, with 20% being the so-called “heavy users” making over 10 purchases during this time period.
Mobile shopping is especially popular among young people. Thus, 29% of young respondents aged 18-25 shop via their smartphones. It is noteworthy that women use both the smartphone and the tablet more than twice as often for online shopping as men.
When it comes to the delivery of their purchases, 74% of the respondents highly value quick and reliable delivery as the most important criterion. GLS stressed that it won the quality test conducted by ÖGVS, an Austrian organisation for consumer studies, among parcel operators in Austria, thanks to its reliable and fast delivery which the study participants also associated GLS with.
What is also very relevant for Austrian online shoppers is to track the status of their shipments and to receive a notification about when the parcel is about to arrive including an approximated delivery time slot, the survey further revealed.
“We are pleased that consumers consider exactly the services important that GLS offers through its FlexDelivery service,” Dr. Axel Spörl, Regional Manager GLS Austria & Portugal, said.
"It is important for us to know how e-commerce is evolving. This enables us to tailor our offerings to the requirements of the parcel recipients. In general, our strategy is to enter with consumers in a direct dialogue and to ask them what they desire,” Spörl added.
