Technology has reshaped every aspect of our world over the last two decades. In the space of a generation, the entire shopping experience has been overhauled. Consumers around the globe are shopping cross-border, seeking hard-to-find items and looking for deals, presenting an enormous prospect for those businesses willing to seize the opportunity.

1. HOW MUCH ARE ONLINE CONSUMERS SPENDING
CROSS-BORDER?
Global
average
US$300.10
North
America
US$368.21
APAC
US$347.87
EMEA
US$269.34
Latin
America
US$232.85
THE GROWTH OF CROSS-BORDER SHOPPING
Asian consumers are generally more likely to shop
cross-border regularly than the average, with 23% of
Chinese and 22% of Hong Kong making purchases a
few times a month compared to a global average of
just 13% reporting the same frequency.
82% of respondents now say they’ve made an
online purchase from a merchant outside their
home country.
LOOKING FOR NEW CUSTOMERS?
SEARCH IS STILL KING
CONSUMERS STILL HAVE CONCERNS
ABOUT E-COMMERCE
CONCLUSION
Search remains the most popular way to discover new merchants, used by more than half (58%) of
respondents. In APAC, word of mouth is also prevalent, with 39% of the shoppers hearing about
international merchants this way.
Consumers are changing, and they are changing fast. In fact, they are changing faster than many businesses, a trend that is quickly manifesting itself as an
intense battle for a bite of the e-commerce pie. But the good news is that there is an enormous opportunity for those businesses willing to invest resources into
building a solid reputation and a robust logistical operation. These two key pillars will then allow enterprises to start competing on price and quality,
ultimately winning both business and consumer loyalty.
APAC consumers worry about high shipping costs and fake or inferior products when making an
online purchase from another country. Australians and South Koreans were also especially worried
about long delivery times, while consumers in Singapore raised concerns about damaged products.
Source: Seizing The Cross-Border Opportunity, a commissioned study conducted on behalf of FedEx, December 2014. Forrester conducted an online survey in September 2014 of 9,006 global online consumers and interviewed 34 small and
medium size businesses with international e-commerce operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US to evaluate
the current attitudes toward and experiences with cross-border shopping and order fulfilment, including the challenges and concerns faced by both groups in expanding these practices. Consumer survey participants included those aged 18 or
older who have ordered a physical item shipped to themselves or another recipient over the internet with the past 12 months. Small and medium-size business interviewees were asked about the factors leading to their decisions to start an
international e-commerce business, their experiences and challenges with fulfilling such orders, and the factors that may enable them to expand this practice. The study took place between July and September 2014.
HOW CONSUMER ADOPTION OF
CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE EXPLODED
Technology has reshaped every aspect of our world over the last two decades. In the space of a generation, the
entire shopping experience has been overhauled. Consumers around the globe are shopping cross-border, seeking
hard-to-find items and looking for deals, presenting an enormous prospect for those businesses willing to seize the
opportunity.
GLOBAL IS THE NEW LOCAL:
CHINA
225% increase
from 2014 to 2018
2014: US$440bn
2018: US$990bn
AUSTRALIA
140% increase
from 2014 to 2018
2014: US$25bn
2018: US$35bn
JAPAN
148% increase
from 2014 to 2018
2014: US$63bn
2018: US$93bn
HOW POPULAR IS E-COMMERCE?
Online retail sales
are increasing in
every key APAC
market.
This rapid growth in digital channels and adoption of e-commerce
across APAC is ushering in a new global shopping reality:
cross-border purchasing.
Forrester estimates the combined 2014 online retail sales of 11 key markets
including the US, UK, China, India, Japan, and Australia at just over US$1
trillion. This figure is projected to rise to US$1.84 trillion by 2018.
OF GLOBAL
SHOPPERS67% conduct at least 10% of their
monthly spending online.
Online purchasing habits differ markedly by region.
For example, North Americans shop for video games more than
others, while those in APAC are more likely to purchase food.
Physical items are more popular than digital
purchases, with 57% of respondents reporting that more
than half of their online purchases are of physical items
shipped to them, as opposed to digital purchases such as
music files and airline tickets.
APAC
52%
High shipping cost
45%
Long delivery time
43%
Damaged products
46%
Fake and/or inferior products
39%
Inability to return an item without added cost or hassle
59%
Search Engine
38%
Online Advertisement
39%
Word of Mouth
31%
Social Media
23%
Email Promotion
How do APAC respondents discover new merchants? What concerns do APAC respondents have about e-commerce?