Top 10 characteristics of consumers’ online shopping behavior in 2019

In 2018, an estimated 1.8 billion people bought goods online. In the same year, global e-commerce retail sales reached $2.8 trillion. By 2021, global e-commerce retail sales are expected to grow to $4.8 trillion.

The trend of online shopping is growing rapidly and is expected to continue, which is good news for both consumers and sellers.

Consumers may choose to shop online because it is convenient or the products are good quality and cheap. In addition, online sellers are committed to providing consumers with a shopping experience as comfortable as possible, such as providing consumers with detailed product descriptions and beautiful product pictures.

If your store is not doing well, you also know that it is difficult to stand out as competition becomes increasingly fierce. Therefore, for sellers, it is important to carefully select the target audience and focus on the consumer shopping experience.

According to survey data from Thinkwithgoogle, 63% of orders start online .

That is, whether consumers ultimately purchase products online or in physical stores, their shopping process starts online.

In most cases, consumers will search for products on Google or Amazon before buying them, so it is very important for brands to have an online store. If sellers can improve the consumer experience, they may attract consumers to come into the store and buy products.

Thanks to enhanced digital technology, consumers now have access to more and more products, categories and brands, and they can also choose how to purchase products.

Understanding how consumers search for products helps create a unique shopping experience for them. Consumers’ paths to purchasing products are not exactly the same, so sellers need to create a unique shopping experience for consumers.

According to a 2018 survey by Ibotta, nearly half of consumers use their mobile phones to shop more often.

Consumers are more likely to shop on their phones, and you can’t ignore this if you want to run a successful store. The consumer purchase journey starts on mobile devices, including various shopping activities such as searching for products and adding products to cart. As of the fourth quarter of 2018, the number of global e-commerce retail orders paid through desktop and mobile was roughly the same. But in terms of store visits, mobile devices are far ahead.

Mobile devices are undoubtedly the development trend of consumer shopping habits. Therefore, as a seller, you can take advantage of this trend to optimize your mobile store to facilitate consumers and provide them with a comfortable and pleasant shopping experience.

China's Taobao is the world's largest online e-commerce platform. According to a 2019 survey by Statista, Taobao's GMV exceeded US$515 billion . In addition, Tmall and Amazon ranked closely behind, with GMVs of US$432 billion and US$344 billion respectively.

According to statistics, the sales of these large e-commerce platforms reached 1.66 trillion US dollars in 2018. The total sales of platforms such as Alibaba, Amazon and eBay accounted for more than 50% of the global e-commerce sales in 2018.

E-commerce platforms are internet websites where third-party sellers offer products, while transactions are processed by the platform itself, and orders are then fulfilled by retailers or drop shippers selected by the platform. And because e-commerce platforms list products from many different sellers, they typically have a wider range of product categories and more inventory than online retail stores.

According to the Paymentscardsandmobile 2018 report, global online shoppers prefer e-wallets for payment , followed by credit and debit cards.

E-wallets are wallets such as WeChat or Alipay, which can make online payments and transfer money in real time through electronic currency. Common e-wallets abroad are Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.

For online sellers, choosing a payment method for consumers also requires careful consideration to ensure that consumers are provided with a convenient and secure payment method. Therefore, you need to consider the audience base to determine which payment method is more familiar and convenient for the audience.

According to the Chinainternetwatch 2019 report, China's total online retail sales of goods and services amounted to US$333.45 billion, accounting for 22.9% of the global total retail sales .

China’s e-commerce market is booming. China not only has the world’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, but also has the largest number of online shoppers (610 million) and the largest number of cross-border consumers (about 150 million).

With rapid technological development and a growing middle class, the Chinese market is expected to continue to expand and innovate, providing opportunities for the future of global retail.

According to Salesforce's 2018 survey data, 75% of consumers search for new products every month . In addition, 69% of consumers said that it is important for them to have new products every time they visit a store or shopping website.

Sellers need to keep up with consumer demand. Only by keeping up with consumer demand can they succeed. From this data, sellers need to provide consumers with new products to improve the shopping experience of the audience. In this way, consumers have more choices when shopping, and sellers have a greater chance of retaining consumers. By updating product categories, you can maintain an advantage over the competition.

We know that consumers often shop online, but how often do they shop? According to a 2019 survey by e-marketing agency Episerver, 62% of consumers shop online at least once a month ; 26% of consumers shop online once a week; and 3% of consumers shop online once a day.

Although many consumers shop online regularly or search for products to buy online, some consumers hesitate during the shopping process. Survey data shows that 46% of consumers give up buying because there are too many options.

From this data, sellers can seize the opportunity to provide one-stop service when consumers browse products to attract these hesitant consumers. First , the product information that consumers may need to know should be as detailed as possible. Second , companies can send consumers information about the latest product offers through email or communicate with them through social media channels. Simplifying the consumer's purchase process can improve their purchasing experience and is also good for the seller's business.

Clothing is the most popular product category in the world. According to a 2019 survey by Statista, 57% of Internet users worldwide buy fashion products online . Shoes are the second most popular category, with an online purchase rate of 47%.

Despite the risks in the industry, fashion is leading the way in online shopping for consumers. In the past, consumers found it difficult to determine the size of clothes they bought online, did not know what to do if they found that the clothes did not fit after receiving the goods, and most sellers had messy return and refund policies, which discouraged many consumers. But now, most stores offer free returns, and refund services are constantly improving. With consumers' concerns eliminated and the system gradually improving, it is no surprise that the clothing category has become the hottest category in the world.

For sellers, understanding the most popular product categories helps understand consumer purchasing needs. Although sellers are likely to have to face industry competition, if sellers can find a clothing niche market of interest and develop a small but profitable market, they can lead their business in the right direction.

According to a 2019 survey by Statista, the main reason consumers abandon their shopping carts is because shipping costs are too high . Other reasons for abandoning shopping carts include: invalid discount codes, long delivery times, and the need to re-enter credit card information or shipping information.

Nowadays, free shipping has become a must-have factor to increase sellers' competitive advantage. If consumers find hidden fees in the online shopping process, they are likely to give up the purchase. If product information is not transparent, consumers will be annoyed.

Therefore, it is best for sellers to provide transparent and complete product information . It is recommended that sellers state all the costs of the product on the product details page. Another method is to include shipping costs in the product price and then provide free shipping services. In the final analysis, online shoppers attach great importance to the transparency of product information, which is crucial to the success of the seller's store.

The trend of online shopping is developing rapidly and is expected to develop further in the next few years. Sellers need to pay attention to online sales platforms to survive in the competitive environment. Before planning future operation strategies, remember and refer to these 10 data to help you plan better.