Since the Covid-19 pandemic, online sales have become a part of French people’s daily lives. Before placing an order, certain criteria are important to consumers and if they are not met, this can be a brake on the purchase. The Harris Interactive polling institute, on behalf of the merchandising company Nfinite, questioned a panel of French people to better understand their desires.
The study was conducted between November 8 and 14, 2022. The 1580 participants were interviewed online.
Generally speaking, the French do most of their shopping in stores (40%). Nevertheless, 23% of them prefer to go online. This is particularly true for the under 35s (37%) and the wealthy (27%).
Why buy on the Internet?
Harris Interactive asked respondents which elements are most important when browsing an e-commerce site.
These include:
• The price (69%)
• The written description (60%)
• The access to a free return if they change their mind (59%)
• The visual and its quality (49%)
• The ergonomics of the sales platform (32%)
• The delivery time (39%)
• The comments from other buyers (35%)
• The availability of a short video presentation (18%)
• The possibility to virtually manipulate the product in 3D (14%)
All of these criteria are equally important to all study participants, regardless of age.
The thorny issue of return
Unless you’ve done some in-store shopping, there is always an element of uncertainty when ordering online.
65% of consumers explain that their purchase is not systematically identical to the visuals presented on the merchant site.
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