02-11-2017

For the third edition of its cross-border e-commerce shopper survey, IPC has considerably enlarged the scope, not only in extending geographical reach to about 29,000 respondents across 31 markets in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe but also in providing more in-depth analysis on some of the topics that came out as key in the previous edition.
  • Extended edition to target 31 markets across the globe
  • Additional questions on specific topics that have proven valuable in previous edition
IPC cross-border e-commerce shopper survey scope

Brussels, 02 November 2017 – For the third edition of its cross-border e-commerce shopper survey,  IPC has considerably enlarged the scope, not only in extending geographical reach to about 29,000 respondents across 31 markets in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe but also in providing more in-depth analysis on some of the topics that came out as key in the previous edition. IPC continues to enhance the research, which it initiated in 2015 to help postal operators gain market insights which can help them to improve their cross-border delivery services to meet the needs of both e-retailers and consumers.

New countries added to the survey for 2017, are Brazil, Cyprus, India, Korea, Mexico and Russia. The addition of new countries reflects the growing importance of e-commerce especially in emerging markets. With respectively 17 and 19% of retail sales taking place online, Korea and China are taking the lead in e-commerce. Brazil, India and Russia continue to experience a huge increase in e-commerce sales and still have a big potential to grow. The survey will identify specificities of these markets. 

While the general setup of the survey has been maintained, additional emphasis has been put on the sections regarding returns and customs. The survey will also still look into consumer preferences when it comes to markets of origin, products, tracking or delivery options, and see whether consumer habits in the newly added markets strongly differ from other markets. The origin of the cross-border goods purchased online as well as the preferred e-retailers will remain a strong focus, especially for the new markets included in the survey. The survey will confirm whether China remains the first market for cross-border purchases and whether this trend also applies to the new markets. A new section of the survey looks into the influence of Direct Mail from e-retailers on online behaviour and e-commerce sales.

Fieldwork for the 2017 IPC cross-border e-commerce shopper survey was conducted in October using an online panel survey of regular cross-border online shoppers, while analysis of the answers will be completed in November. The public version of the survey’s results will be available at the end of January 2018.

About International Post Corporation
International Post Corporation (IPC) is the leading service provider of the global postal industry that provides leadership by driving service quality, interoperability and business-critical intelligence to support posts in defending existing business and expanding into new growth areas. It is a cooperative association of 24 member postal operators in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. IPC’s solutions and services are used by over 180 posts worldwide. Since 1989 IPC has set standards for upgrading quality and service performance and developed technological solutions that help members enhance service for international letters, packets and parcels. IPC engages in industry research, creates business-critical intelligence, provides a range of platforms and programmes for member post CEOs and senior management to exchange best practices and discuss strategy. IPC also manages the system for incentive-based payments between postal operators.

For further information, please contact:

Eva Wouters
Communications manager, PR and media relations
International Post Corporation
+32 2 724 71 91
[email protected]