Do you Shop Online? European Consumer Trends Revealed | Prepaid365

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14 April 2014
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The number of Europeans prepared to look at products online might be increasing, but a new study has revealed that 55% will still not regularly follow through with online purchases.

Instead, they prefer traditional means of finding something in a store, rather than via PC, mobile or digital platform sales.

That is according to Forrester, who have a compiled a report which suggests that the number of people choosing not to shop online outweighs the number of people who are.

However, 15% of people regularly use online channels for their shopping, while double that figure do not use digital assistance at all when purchasing.

Targeting the right people

This places the onus on retailers to engage with customers in the right manner and to ensure that they are making the most of the opportunities available to them.

Some customers are clearly keen to view products over the internet but are unprepared to purchase without seeing them first hand.

Therefore, driving these customers towards purchasing the products they view is of vital importance for businesses.

It means ecommerce businesses need to work on developing sales, although an anticipated rise in demand could also assist them – Forrester predicted a rise in online sales of 62% by 2016 back in February.

Different trends

According to the study, the UK has the greatest number of ‘traditional web shoppers’ while the Italians are more likely to research products prior to purchasing across many different platforms.

The Swedish public is most likely to research and view products, but will hold off from actually purchasing, according to the report.

Each country has different habits and understanding these is vital to ensuring that sales techniques are targetting the right groups of people.

Americans are most likely to shop online on a regular basis, although those in Italy and Spain are continuing to turn to online methods in order to find the goods they want.

Prepaid card options

A great way of managing online spending is to use a prepaid card for purchases, as only money on the card at any particular moment can be spent.

They can be used on a multitude of websites for all kinds of goods, providing an alternative for customers not looking to get into debt.

The cards can, however, be topped up if necessary and can be replaced if they are lost or stolen without funds being affected.

Furthermore, unlike credit and debit cards, prepaid cards are not directly linked to a bank account, making fraudulent activity a lot more difficult.

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