Panhellenic e-commerce survey 2018 – 2019
The annual nationwide B-C e-commerce survey conducted by the SELPE and the Electronic Commerce Laboratory (ELTRUN) the Athens University of Economics and Business with the support of GRECA (Greek Association of Electronic Commerce). The main conclusions are:
The top categories of online shopping are tourism/travel, ready-to-eat food, clothing, computer equipment and electrical appliances.
When asked which categories of products/services you made at least one purchase over the Internet in January-September 2018, ‘accommodation’ ranked first with 50% the answers. The top twelve are: travel services (46%), ready-to-eat (43%), clothing/footwear (42%), computer equipment (41%), electronic devices (40%), tickets for events (39%Books (37)%), household goods (36%), pharmacy supplies (30%), personal care (30%) and insurance (26%). In these top categories, there were no significant differences in rankings compared to 2017, with the exception of the significant increase for ‘ordering ready-made food’ due to the significant investments made in this area in digital services but also in distribution and service channels.
In the corresponding question for at least one online purchase in the last month, the top choices were found footwear/clothing and books, justified by the specific period of the survey (beginning of the school year).
Purchases are now made mainly from Greek online stores.
The 85% Respondents say they are over 80.% its online purchases from Greek online stores, a significant development since 2016 only 60% Consumers have the same behavior. This is related to the number of Greek online stores that operate and the comprehensive services they offer. Based on GRECA estimates, 7,000 companies operate in Greece with a digital sales channel, while the TrustMark certification mark provided by GRECA with the scientific support of ELTRUN has already been acquired by 160 online stores.
Of course 43% continues to buy from foreign online stores, even occasionally, mainly for cheap prices (47%) and availability of products (39%).
Development 15-20% In 2018, the number of online B-C buyers remained stable.
In 2018, there was a significant growth in the Greek online market that also determines the maturity of online buyers. This is based on the following elements:
– increase by 20% the average number of online purchases in the nine months from 12.26 (2017) to 14.86 (2018)
– an increase of around 20% the total average value of online purchases in the nine months of 2018 compared to 2017
– 35% online shoppers digitally make 1 in 2 of their total purchases (out of 31% in 2017)
– 85% Buyers make over 80% its online purchases from Greek online stores (since 70% in 2017).
The only worrying element for future growth is the number of new online shoppers, which in the survey sample is only 1% launched online shopping in 2018. The 41% online shoppers started buying online before 2010 while 25% over the past three years mainly due to the impact of capital controls and the growth of digital payments.
Severe multichannel behaviour
Greek online shoppers continue their multichannel behavior and even with increasing trends compared to 2017. Two-thirds of their total physical purchases were made by Greek online shoppers after searching or being updated online (up from 1/2 in 2017). This determines the importance of digital marketing regardless of the digital or physical sales channel.
Also, a quarter of all online purchases by online buyers were made after visiting a physical store. This justifies why large brick-and-mortar chains have started investing in omnichannel commerce by digitally upgrading the consumer experience within the brick-and-mortar store.
The main reasons for online shopping are the best prices
The main reasons for online shopping for online shoppers generally concern the issue of prices/offers since 75% Says they get a better price at 52.% wants price comparison and 41% It is easy to find new offers.
In second place is finding/gamma products since 47% Reports that he finds products that do not exist in physical stores, 38% that there is a greater variety of products and 37% It is easy to find products from abroad.
In the last position we find reasons related to the process / time since 33% Unavailability of free time and 24% Better planning of markets.
Online shoppers are leveraging online banking and digital payments.
Online payments continue the trend since 2017 where debit card is stabilized as a top payment method (64% respondents refer to it as the usual method of payment). In second place is cash on delivery (54% from 57% 2017) followed by the credit card (37%) and PayPal (33%).
In general, e-banking is one of the main reasons that online shoppers use the Internet and in fact with a particular upward trend (66% 2018 compared to 51% in 2017). This is also justified by the relevant upgrades of these services by the financial institutions.
Mobile penetration is important but the PC remains the main means of online shopping.
Online shoppers can access the Internet via mobile phone (93%), portable computer (73%), fixed computer (57%) and tablet (33%). The use of mobile devices by online shoppers is now universal as they are used to search for offers (since 93% of respondents), for social networking applications (84%), to search for prices while in a physical store (65%), and for downloading applications (64%).
But when asked what is the main device for making online purchases, 80% The number of online shoppers is just 15.% mobile and 5% The tablet. This is partly related to the usability of interfaces and the navigability of online stores on mobile devices.
The main problems concern the delivery of products.
The main problems faced by online shoppers mainly concern the delivery of products such as high delivery charges (70%), the time of receipt of the products (31%) and receipt of defective products (15%). The second category of problems concerns support such as difficulty in obtaining information after purchase (19%) and difficulty in telephone communication (13%). While problems with digital transactions are limited, such as difficulty navigating (14%) and difficulty in payment method (6%).
The survey was conducted with an online questionnaire in October-November 2018 with the participation of 1512 online consumers. It has been held in the last 10 years as part of the e-commerce week. The scientific supervision was provided by Professor Georgios Doukidis, Director of the ELTRUN/AUEB Laboratory and Dr Katerina Fraidaki (fraidaki@aueb.gr), Research Director of ELTRUN/AUEB and Chairman of the GRECA Board.