Indians have taken to cross border shopping like a duck to water, with more than half of online Indian shoppers now purchasing on international sites, a new mCommerce report commissioned by PayPal, a global leader in digital payments, revealed. Also, one in two mobile shoppers in India shop cross-border.

As much as 54 per cent of online shoppers participating in the study shop cross-border, said the study conducted by ipsos.

Interestingly, the global report suggested that India is leading the mobile commerce usage with 88 per cent of them using mobile devices to pay online and 81 per cent of Indian merchants have optimised for mobile shopping.

The survey was designed to gain insight into three main areas: Payment behaviours and acceptance, drivers and barriers to mobile commerce and understand readiness of consumers and business respondents towards mobile commerce.

The study was conducted across 11 markets, with about 22,000 consumers, and 4,602 businesses. In India, 2,000 consumers (aged 18-74 years) who owned or used a smartphone and 302 business influencers or decision makers who sell or take payments online to consumers (and businesses), were interviewed.

Security remains major factor

In the last six months Indian businesses have received 47 per cent of sales from international customers, the report showed. Better product quality and ability to discover new and interesting products variety are key drivers for cross-border shopping.

However, shipping costs, delivery time, lack of clarity on duty/taxes/ and return shipping costs are some of the barriers for those who do not shop internationally, it added.

Majority of online shoppers (7 in 10) said that PayPal availability increases feelings of security on international stores. Also, when it comes to cross-border shopping, 37 per cent consumers are not very or not at all likely to purchase without PayPal.

About 27 per cent of the merchants surveyed actively target international buyers and 26 per cent feel that selling to an international customer base has a positive impact on their business growth. About 45 per cent of merchants have made mobile optimisation a business priority for the next 12 months. Time saving and ease of transacting is the main drivers for mobile commerce

App purchases are most popular for bill payments, in fashion and food technology.

Anupam Pahuja, Managing Director, PayPal India, said: “India has been rapidly moving towards digitization and millennials are embracing innovative ways of transacting using technology. We at PayPal, are focused on enabling seamless and safer transactions to become a part of the daily lives of Indian consumers. Mobile penetration gives an impetus to the adoption of digital payments across the country.”

Indian consumers prefer using a mobile device for payments. Compared with other markets surveyed, India leads the way with 70 per cent of consumers preferring mobile-optimized experiences as against the global average of 43 per cent.

About 81 per cent of the merchants are optimized to accept mobile payments to meet the growing demand and responding to consumer preferences as against the global average of 63 per cent

Mobile shopping

All age groups rely on their smartphones with a high level of browsing among mobile shoppers. According to the report, 47 per cent millennial mobile shoppers have made spontaneous purchases on their mobiles

About 39 per cent business respondents in India have an app against 24 per cent global average and 51 per cent of online sales volume in India is driven through in-app purchase against 41 per cent global average

Slow page loading and security or trust issues have emerged as the top barriers for consumers.

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