Research by Japanese online powerhouse Rakuten reveals that price is the key driver of consumers buying online.
Trust is the second biggest motivator.
The study shows that while consumers love nothing better than a bargain (61 per cent), almost half of global shoppers (49 per cent) surveyed consider the reliability of the retailer to be paramount when making purchase decisions online, highlighting the importance of trust.
Retailer trust was most valued in the East, where countries such as Indonesia (69 per cent) and Thailand (65 per cent) ranked reliability as the number one feature when shopping online. In the US, reliability came second only to price, with 75 per cent of Americans citing price as an essential purchase driver.
Contrary to the popular belief that shipping and payment options are of high importance to consumers, the research also revealed that less than a third (29 per cent) of shoppers surveyed globally saw shipping options as a key factor in their purchase decision. This average falls to around a quarter (26 per cent) in Europe and 33 per cent in the US.
Meanwhile, payment options were even less significant, accounting for just 20 per cent of responses globally. Notably, this fell to just six per cent for British shoppers and nine per cent for Americans.
“Competition online is evolving, discerning shoppers will always look for a good deal, but as retailers, we need to move away from a model of unsustainable cost cutting towards value creation” said Bernard Luthi, CMO and COO of Rakuten’s US flagship e-commerce site, Rakuten.com Shopping.
“This research shows that while price is important, shoppers are increasingly looking for more than that online, they want brands they can rely on, that deliver entertaining and secure shopping experiences. Retailers need to focus on creating a reliable shopping experience in order to build loyal consumers who are happy to come directly to them for their shopping needs.”
After price and trust, 40 per cent of consumers considered choice to be the next most important feature in an online store.
Overall, Japanese shoppers were most likely to value on-site rewards with over a quarter (29 per cent) requesting this feature, however, globally, rewards on site accounted for just 11 per cent.
