Price, Trust And Choice Key Drivers Of Consumers’ Online Buying Decisions

It’s no surprise to find out that most global consumers consider price as the key factor when choosing to buy retail products online, as established in a study carried out by e-commerce website Rakuten.

Price was cited as the most essential feature of an online retail website by 61% of shoppers across 12 markets, while 49% said that it is the retailer’s reliability that matters most, which underscores the importance of trust. For 40% of consumers, the variety of choice was most important when shopping online.

It turns out that features such as payment and delivery options, deemed for a long time by retailers as the main factors behind an online purchase, are no longer that significant, according to Rakuten. Delivery service, in particular, was defined as important by just 29% of global shoppers and by 26% of European respondents, while payment options were cited by 20% of consumers worldwide and by just 6% of Britons and 9% of Americans.

Online retail is entering a new era of competitive tension and shoppers will naturally look for the best deal when buying over the Internet, Bernard Luthi, CMO and COO of Rakuten.com Shopping, commented. For retailers, this should mean a radical shift to value creation from unsustainable cost cutting. The research outlines competitive pricing as the key driver behind a purchase, but it also highlights trust as a main component in consumers’ relationships with retailers, which suggests that creating entertaining and secure shopping experiences is the path to success, he said.