Online shoppers around the world want recyclable packaging and more sustainable deliveries as concern rises about the environmental impact of e-commerce, IPC’s latest global survey of nearly 36,000 consumers in 41 countries found.
Two thirds (66%) of global consumers would prefer recyclable parcel packaging, ideally cardboard rather than plastic, the fifth IPC Cross-Border E-commerce Shopper Survey revealed. As many as 44% would be ready to pay extra in order to receive sustainable packaging.
Moreover, carbon-neutral delivery is increasingly important, with a willingness from customers to receive parcels a few days later to reduce their environmental impact, the survey found. A significant 45% of cross-border online shoppers would like the delivery process to be carbon-neutral while 47% would be willing to receive their parcel a few days later to reduce the environmental impact.
Holger Winklbauer, CEO of IPC, said: “Over the five editions of the Cross-Border E-commerce Shopper Survey we have continuously increased the geographical scope and sample. As 25 countries have participated in all five editions of the research, we have been able to report on five-year trends in this year’s report.
“We also explored consumers’ views on sustainability when shopping online cross-border. This has highlighted the importance to consumers in providing recyclable packaging and sustainable delivery. This aligns very well with the efforts the postal sector has been making in the field of sustainability and supports the new direction of our sustainability programme through alignment to the wider UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Higher VAT could hit Chinese e-commerce exports
The bulk of international e-commerce parcels remained light and cheap last year. The majority (86%) of cross-border parcels weighed up to 2kg and 44% of goods purchased cross-border cost less than €25, the survey showed. The four most popular e-retailers for cross-border purchases were Amazon (25%), Alibaba (20%), eBay (14%) and Wish (11%), according to survey responses.
In terms of cross-border shopping trends, IPC analysis of survey responses found that China (39%), the US (14%), the UK (10%) and Germany (9%) were the top four countries to buy from. After several years of winning market share, China has now stabilised at just below 40%, while the shares of the other top countries also remained stable last year.
However, forthcoming legislative changes could change this picture, the survey revealed.
Respondents who had made a purchase from China in the past year were asked what they would do if online purchases from China increased by €10 per item. More than one third (36%) of these respondents said they would stop buying from China altogether, while 41% would buy slightly less from China, and 13% would have no change to their purchase activity.
This new question was asked in anticipation of European Union changes to VAT and customs legislation for low-cost items coming from China, and also to reflect possible higher postal delivery costs for future Chinese purchases, IPC explained.
In addition, the 2019 survey measured six key elements of consumer satisfaction: delivery cost, delivery location, tracking, delivery speed, customs and returns.
Delivery speed clearly had the lowest level of consumer satisfaction, in nearly all 41 surveyed markets. The most common delivery speed for cross-border purchases was 15-29 days (20%), with 11% of respondents having to wait 30 days or more for their purchase to arrive. This could be explained by the high percentage of light-weight, low-value purchases coming from China, IPC noted.
The 2019 survey was extended to cover more than 35,700 consumers in 41 different countries worldwide, confirming it as the largest-ever global consumer survey focusing on cross-border e-commerce. It covered IPC member countries plus Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Estonia, Indonesia, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, South Korea and Turkey.
To download the key findings click here.
