New trend: more and more people shop online abroad and have their goods delivered

In total, the Swiss spent about CHF 1.45 billion on online shopping tourism last year. That is no less than 20 percent more than five years ago.

The Swiss no longer go abroad to shop as often, but they do do online shopping abroad. This is according to a long-term study by the Retail Management Research Center at the University of St. Gallen. The AZ shows the ten most important facts about online shopping tourism.

The number of online purchases has increased.

Five years ago, respondents shopped online abroad 3.2 times a year, compared to 3.4 times last year. At the same time, the research team led by Thomas Rudolph found that the purchase amount per purchase has fallen since 2017 from 187.03 to 183.17 francs.

Younger people shop abroad more often online.

On average, 41.9 percent of the 3147 respondents have already ordered goods from a foreign supplier. Young people shop online more often than older people. 47.2 percent of young people under the age of 25 have already shopped online abroad, compared to only 28.3 percent of those aged 61 to 69. However, the share of people who have already ordered from abroad has increased significantly in all age categories since 2017.

Most have the items delivered at home.

It is usually said that Swiss Post delivers: 75.9 percent have already had the ordered items delivered to Switzerland. At the same time, 34.3 percent indicate that they have had the ordered goods sent to a foreign PO box at least once. It is no longer so popular to have the goods delivered to friends or acquaintances in neighboring countries. This value has fallen from 27.6 to 19.4 percent over the past five years.

Amazon is drying everyone out.

Mail order company Amazon was by far the most popular order address in 2017 – and continued to expand its dominance. Last year, 22.5 percent of respondents said Amazon is their preferred internet service provider abroad. In second place follows a well-known player in Switzerland: Zalando. 8.4 percent of those surveyed also prefer this provider abroad. Ikea, Wish and Shein also make the top 5. A quarter of respondents who shop at Amazon also have an Amazon Prime account.

“The price is high” also applies to online shopping.

As with stationary shopping tourism, price also plays an important role in online shopping. When asked what they especially like when ordering from abroad, 39.4 percent say that prices are cheaper than in Switzerland. The larger selection (30.4%), convenience (9.9%), fast delivery (8.8%) and the fact that products are not available in Switzerland (5.9%) also play an important role.

Customs clearance is the most tedious part of orders.

22.6 percent of those who have already ordered from abroad see customs clearance as the biggest disruptive factor. But the complicated and long delivery, the high delivery and shipping costs, the return process and the fact that the dealers do not deliver in Switzerland also put pressure on the ordering mood.

Sport is king in online shopping.

Sporting goods are among the most popular products purchased online abroad. 58.9 percent of those who ordered online from abroad had one or more sports items delivered to their home. Clothing (54.4%), furniture (53.6%) and drugstore items (26.9%) are also popular. After all, every eighth has had groceries delivered from abroad.

Those who shop, do it more often.

On average, people who do their shopping abroad order 4.1 times a year. This is 3.8 times for clothing and 3.4 times for sporting goods. On average, online shoppers spend nearly 84 francs on groceries – eight more than five years ago.

The most popular online retailer of drugstore items is…

… also Amazon. It is located in front of the «dm». Since 2017, however, the drugstore chain has managed to catch up with a lot of ground. Douglas, Shop Apotheke and Müller are also among the top 5. When it comes to clothing, Zalando leads the way, putting Amazon in second place on the popularity scale. But anyone who thinks that Ikea should be number one when it comes to furnishing will be disappointed. Amazon is in charge here again. However, since 2017 Ikea has made a lot of catching up.

Millions are lost to Swiss trade.

The authors of the study estimate the loss to Swiss retailers from online purchases at a total of CHF 1.45 billion. That is almost 20 percent more than in 2017. Expressed in Swiss francs, the loss was greatest in the furnishing sector. The research team estimates this at just under CHF 504 million. It is also high in the field of clothing: almost 465 million francs are spent abroad here. If you include stationary shopping tourism, about 8.4 billion Swiss francs flow abroad every year. That is 7.1 percent less than in 2017. (aargauerzeitung.ch)