Survey reveals consumers still want to be loyal to online retailers

Anew survey from e-commerce specialist Avangate suggests that customers are looking for a long-term relationship with providers of online services.

There is a huge range of choice available when shopping online, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that customers won’t be loyal – if given the opportunity.

Avangate found that 60 per cent of consumers have set up at least one or two recurring payments online. 46 per cent refuse to purchase online subscriptions without a ‘freemium’ option and almost 40 per cent prefer to pay bills online.

Shoppers do like to have the opportunity to shop around. The ability to compare is still important, the survey found, with 45 per cent of customers comparing three to four online channels before making a purchase decision.

So far, the survey says, payment methods remain resolutely conservative with 99 per cent of consumers not using Bitcoin and the one percent who do not using it as their primary payment method.

Mobile payments are catching on but mainly among younger age groups. In total 52 percent of consumers have used their mobile to make a purchase. But while 30-44 year olds are most active with 30 percent making monthly mobile payments, 72 per cent of over 60s have not used a mobile to make a payment.

The main concern with mobile payments is security with 22 per cent of consumers saying that they don’t feel secure when making mobile payments, but they do it anyway.

“Today, we are seeing the digitization of products into services – what we are calling the ‘New Services Economy’ — and it’s spawning the next generation of software and online services companies that are redefining commerce,” said Carl Theobald, CEO at Avangate.

“For these new service providers and vendors, the ability to truly monetize their offerings is no longer about point payment transactions with the customer, but rather being able to interact, service and expand the relationship with the customer from the discovery, trial, and add-on and retention phases — all of which are potential opportunities to make purchasing decisions.” 

Related reading

Leave a comment