It’s a big world out there and the rise in cross-border eCommerce presents unprecedented opportunities for businesses to reach new customers and expand into new online markets.
However, outdated or insufficient online payments and checkout capabilities keep many eTailers from fully seizing this opportunity.
In fact, new data reveal that global shoppers have come to expect equivalent personalized and streamlined features that make it easy to navigate websites and complete purchases when they’re browsing abroad.
According to The Cross-Border Merchant Optimization Index, a PYMNTS and Digital River collaboration, an examination of 137 eCommerce sites of retail merchants from six countries across six verticals found that cross-border eCommerce checkouts faced 11% more friction than domestic checkouts.
See more: New Data Shows How US eTailers Can Overcome Price Barriers and Woo Cross-Border Shoppers
The study reveals that eTailers have kept up efforts to improve their cross-border experiences by adding more interface personalization and checkout features to their sites since 2016.
Despite these improvements, businesses still offer far fewer features for cross-border transactions than domestic ones. According to the data, the average eCommerce merchant’s cross-border index score (53.8) is far lower than its domestic index score (60).
Additionally, the data also showed that the cost for cross-border eCommerce purchases was significantly higher than domestic purchases, with global merchants charging an average of 17% more for these international transactions. The premium is even starker in the U.S., where domestic merchants, on average, charged 43% more for cross-border transactions than domestic transactions.
The result is a drastically different shopping experience for international and domestic eCommerce consumers, even when shopping on the same website, as eTailers tend to charge different prices and checkout features for cross-border and domestic transactions.
