British consumers take more care when shopping online

Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 15:21 by Sarah Collinson

A study of browsing habits seen in various countries has revealed that people from the UK are a bit more cautious when it comes to examining e-commerce pages and making decisions before carrying out a transaction when shopping online.

Content Square collected data on how people use shopping sites and found that Brits interact in a calmer, more collected way than people in other nations. But once we have found a product or service we want to buy, we are also 12 per cent more decisive than any other country when it comes to committing to a sale.

This is especially interesting, since the report also uncovered the fact that European e-commerce sites tend to have far less information on product pages than those in Asia, where there are not only larger and longer pages for products but also more elements with which shoppers can interact.

Chinese consumers were found to be the most likely to engage with page elements, as well as scroll down to find out more about the product in question, when compared with the international average. In total, e-commerce product pages in China are ten times longer than European equivalents, showing the extent of the gap in expectations and consumer behaviour.

Many people may not realise just how much data about their behaviour is being recorded when they visit websites, but this is all used by retailers to improve the e-commerce experience and ensure that services cater to the needs of the customers who will be visiting.

In the UK, people are less fidgety with their mouse movements, while still taking the time to carefully read pages and, once they have reached a decision, quickly click through to the checkout to place their order with the retailer.