Online shoppers are often interested in getting the lowest possible prices on the products they want. However, they are unlikely to buy from firms that they do not trust. A recent survey by Rakuten bears this out. Rakuten is a large global online retailer and service provider based in Japan.

As Chris Pappas reports on Launch.it:

“Rakuten’s international survey into consumer shopping preferences found that while consumers love nothing better than a bargain (61%), almost half of global shoppers (49%) surveyed consider the reliability of the retailer to be paramount when making purchase decisions online, highlighting the importance of trust.”

“Retailer trust was most valued in the East, where countries such as Indonesia (69%) and Thailand (65%) ranked reliability as the number one feature when shopping online. Meanwhile, in the U.S., reliability came second only to price, with 75% of Americans citing price as an essential purchase driver.”

“Contrary to the popular belief that shipping and payment options are of high importance to consumers, research also revealed that less than a third (29%) of shoppers surveyed globally saw shipping options as a key factor in their purchase decision. This average falls to around a quarter (26%) in Europe and 33% in the U.S.  Meanwhile, payment options were even less significant, accounting for just 20% of responses globally.  Notably, this fell to just 6% for British shoppers and 9% for Americans.”

“’Competition online is evolving, discerning shoppers will always look for a good deal, but as retailers we need to move away from a model of unsustainable cost cutting towards value creation,’ said Bernard Luthi, CMO and COO of Rakuten’s U.S. flagship E-commerce site, Rakuten.com Shopping.”

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