Consumers Want to Buy Globally — Is Your Site Ready?

When it comes to shopping, a growing number of consumers are looking beyond their borders.

More than three-quarters of shoppers in the top eight global markets — the U.S., Canada, China, Australia, the U.K., Japan, France and Germany — report having shopped with eCommerce providers outside their home countries in the last year, compared to 69% in 2019.

This rise in cross-border eCommerce would suggest that companies would be wise to expand — or launch — their global eCommerce efforts, but that can be easier said than done.

For example, a little more than half of consumers say high shipping costs and long wait times for delivers are the key things deterring them from buying internationally.

Cross-border shoppers want to see transparency when it comes to tax and duty costs and to see these charges accurately displayed, even if these fees are included in the price.

Pay locally, shop globally

According to Chuck Huang, founder and CEO of payments platform Citcon, a number of cross-border merchants have added local payment options to their sites, although the adoption hasn’t been as widespread as it could be.

One issue for merchants is whether their payment gateways support enough payment methods to cover a wide base of customers, Huang said. By not offering access to localized, popular payment methods, merchants risk missing out on a significant share of the market.

Then there’s the issue of how well merchants integrate the payment methods into their eCommerce site without hampering the checkout process. Implement these methods incorrectly, Huang said, and merchants can subject their customers to more payment friction.

By offering local payment options — particularly mobile ones — merchants can enjoy better conversion rates and reduced friction. This is a clear advantage over card-based payments: instead of inputting card numbers, expiration dates and other verification info, most local payments just require users to enter a username and password or scan a QR code.

To learn more about the challenges facing merchants hoping to enter the world of cross-border payments, download your copy of the Cross-Border Retail Payments Tracker, a PYMNTS and Citcon collaboration.