Free shipping and returns, highly valued aspects among online shoppers

According to a recent study by e-Tailing Group, 73% of consumers consider very important the free shipping of a product when they go to make an online purchase, while 70% consider that the free return of the same has great importance. Next, in order of importance, the website has special sections (62%), coupons (56%), discounts or products on offer (54%), paying less when buying more (34%) and obtaining a gift when making a purchase (31%).

In social networks, free shipping of products is equally important as 60% of consumers say they have become fans of a product, distributor, manufacturer or brand as a result of having bought something and not having paid the shipping costs , while 46% say that this option has a great influence when making a purchase.

Meanwhile, exclusive discounts and daily deals influence approximately 50% of consumers to become fans of a brand and between 2 and 5 of them say that is the reason to make a purchase. However, the number of fans is not important to consumers because less than a quarter begins to follow that mark by the number of followers it has, and only 1 in 5 would if a friend has become a fan of that brand .

For most consumers, the essential and truly definitive to make an online purchase is the online visualization they can make of the product, with high quality images and, if possible, from various angles. The qualifications and evaluations they receive along with the product comparisons are also highly cited, and in many cases, the possibility of choosing the color of the product.

On the contrary, social features such as buttons to social networks or the button to send by mail to a friend, are important for less than a third of consumers.

To make the purchase itself, 79% of consumers consider the price as a decisive factor in the choice of a product, well ahead of the second most mentioned with 63%, is the possibility of making the purchase online and receive the product at home.

In third place we find the ability to quickly obtain the product with 55% and follow the motivation for reading reviews and reviews of the product (33%), word of mouth advice from friends (26%) and advice from the online consumer community (15%).

From this report, it follows that if a brand or company wants to compete, free shipping is the feature that encourages consumers to make more purchases online, being 39% more popular than any other function of online shopping, including free returns or coupons, although the latter are also important.