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Survey reveals how Canadians shop online

June 24, 2009  By Amanda Ryder


NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Survey reveals how Canadians shop online
A PayPal survey has revealed that over half
(56 per cent) of online shoppers have abandoned their online shopping
due to higher than expected shipping charges.

June 24, 2009 – A PayPal survey released today revealed that over half (56 percent) of
online shoppers have abandoned their online shopping due to higher than
expected shipping charges. The average cost of abandoned goods in
Canadian shopping carts is C$156.

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The need to be more up-front about the entire online shopping process
is of critical importance since almost all the shoppers had the
intention of buying the product if their needs had been met. Only three
per cent of Canadians (it was the same for Americans) said they had no
intention of purchasing the item online after filling up the cart and
proceeding to the checkout.

"Transparency is increasingly important to buyers," said Darrell
MacMullin, country manager for PayPal Canada. "One of the main reasons
people click on the checkout button is to get information that is not
provided by the online merchant such as shipping costs and other
important fees such as cross-border duties and handling fees. To reduce
cart abandonment, merchants should provide this information sooner in
the checkout process."

To help merchants encourage shoppers to purchase, PayPal today
announced a new Express Checkout feature – the PayPal Instant Update
API. By integrating the new API, merchants can show order details
earlier in the process including shipping options, insurance choices
and tax totals.

Canadians Anxious about Security Online

The survey also found that despite the growth in e-commerce, Canadians
still feel some anxiety when they click the BUY button when shopping
online. Fifty-one per cent of those surveyed said they typically feel a
little anxious when they make an online purchase. Part of this
trepidation comes from the fact 40 per cent of those surveyed were not
overly confident that the merchant they were buying from could keep
their financial information secure. Though online purchasing anxiety is
slightly lower in the US – 45 per cent – only 27 per cent of Americans
surveyed had the same concern.

Though Canadians are not serial cart abandoners – 75 per cent of those
surveyed said they do it less than once a month (compared to 62 per
cent in the US) – there is a small percentage that is prone to
abandoning their carts frequently. Four percent admitted to doing it on
average more than five times
a month.

Smaller and often lesser known merchants also face some specific
hurdles. Sixty-six per cent of those surveyed said they were reluctant
to buy from stores they'd never heard of because they didn't want to
share financial information. The number is not much different in the US
– 62 per cent.

The survey also found that:

–  Seventy-eight per cent of Canadians surveyed who abandoned a cart knew the site or had bought from it before.
–  Fifty-two per cent said an ideal payment process would involve just one click, no matter where they were shopping.
–  Forty-three per cent said it takes too long to fill out credit card information.
–  Forty per cent of those who abandoned their shopping carts said the payment option they wanted to use was not available.
–  Twenty-five per cent did eventually make the purchase online at the same retailer.


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