According to a new study, Belgians buy online with their wallets in mind. It’s also young people who return their purchases, even though they are the ones who insist most on durability. So what does the online shopper look like?
The serial returners versus the keepers
Why do Belgians choose to buy online? The biggest common denominator is ‘for the money’: more than a third prefer e-commerce because they can compare prices, 1 in 3 buy online because it’s cheaper and 30% say they find better discounts online. These are the findings of the eighth edition of the Belgian Online Shopper Survey (BOSS), carried out by the Belgian e-commerce federation Becom.
According to consumers, the fact that online shopping can be done from the comfort of their armchair and is easy to do is a welcome bonus. Equally easy: if they don’t like what they buy, they can always send it back. However… 73% of those questioned said they never – or very rarely – return an item. They consciously buy products that they know will be good. A third of respondents (33%) who often return parcels do so because the product does not meet their expectations or because the description and photos were not correct (24%).
This is a striking result, which led Becom to discover a group of ‘serial returners’: 66% of Belgians who regularly return fashion items consciously order different sizes, colours or models in order to try them on or compare them. They therefore know in advance that they will return parts of their order.
