LONDON: Three quarters of online shoppers in the UK look for other shoppers' opinions before making a purchase, new research reveals, while more than one third consult friends and family first.

With online shopping now common in many countries, marketers are increasingly seeking to understand the nuances of consumer attitudes and actions related to this activity. 

The 2016 Connected Commerce report from digital agency DigitasLBi, polled 1,000 people in each of 15 countries, including the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden in Europe, focusing on the behaviours of those who had bought online in the previous 30 days.

This showed that most online shoppers around the world (78%) look for some form of reassurance before parting with their money.

In that respect, as in several others highlighted in the report, UK consumers were broadly in line with the global average.

Thus, 35% of consumers globally consulted friends and family before buying online, compared to 37% in the UK. German consumers, however, were most likely to pay attention to these people's opinions (44%), while Italians paid the least (22%).

While many e-commerce businesses are attempting to differentiate themselves by the speed of delivery, UK consumers are generally fairly relaxed about this. Just 15% expected items they've bought to be delivered within one day, compared to a global average of 18%.

Interestingly, the extremes in this regard came in near neighbours Denmark and Holland: consumers in the former were particularly unhurried with just 7% wanting next-day delivery, while 38% of the no-nonsense Dutch demanded this.

Other national traits thrown up by the research included the fact that Italians are more likely than any other nation to shop in the kitchen – 24% shop for food from this location and 23% for household items.

"Whether it's browsing for fashion in bed or shopping with a wearable, our customers are finding new ways to choose the things they want, and by looking at a connected view of the sales journey, smart brands can find ways to improve their service and, ultimately, their performance," said Fern Miller, CMO/International at DigitasLBi.

Data sourced from DigitasLBi; additional content by Warc staff