PAYONE CONSUMER SURVEY: ONLINE SHOPPING - CRACKS IN PARADISE

Frankfurt am Main/Vienna, 03.05.2023

PAYONE, a joint venture between Worldline, a leading global provider of payment services, and the DSV Group, the competence center Payment of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, has conducted a representative survey in Germany and Austria among consumers between the ages of 18 and 70 on their payment habits and expectations of payment options in brick-and-mortar stores and online stores. A total of 1001 end consumers in Germany and 500 in Austria were surveyed nationwide.

Online shopping has become widely accepted among all age groups - not least due to the pandemic - and has become a matter of course in parallel with local stores. A shopping world that offers an almost unlimited range of goods 24/7, regardless of store opening hours, as well as time and travel savings and in some cases lower prices, has long since become suitable for the masses. Just over 70 percent of German (73%) and Austrian (72%) consumers say they make purchases in the e-commerce environment as regularly as at the point of sale.

Lack of a payment option: abandoned purchases are the order of the dayHowever, the shopping experience does not always run smoothly: even though around a third of German consumers say they have never been forced to cancel a purchase in an online store, 17% of German and 14% of Austrian consumers state that they do not complete their online purchase at least once a month or more frequently because either their preferred payment method was not offered or the payment process was aborted due to unclear technical problems on the website they were visiting. These survey results have a lasting negative impact on sales and retailers should take appropriate precautions to avoid losing customers or shopping baskets (to the competition) in the long term.

Online shopping payment methods: the darlings of consumersCompared to brick-and-mortar stores, online stores often offer a wide range of payment methods in order to reach as many customers as possible. The absolute champion among the payment methods is PayPal: 79% of German and 60% of Austrian survey participants choose this payment method as their favorite when shopping online. The American online payment service is followed by purchase on account: 53% of German and Austrian consumers each use the option of paying for their online purchase only after receiving the goods. Klarna is particularly appreciated by Austrians with 51% - compared to only 36% of Germans. Austrian consumers also prefer credit cards for e-shopping with 55%, well ahead of the German comparison group with 39%.

Immediate bank transfer is much more popular among Austrians (40%) compared to 20% among German respondents, which corresponds with the use of prepayment as a payment method: 16% of Austrian respondents prefer this traditional payment method compared to 12% of German respondents.

These results suggest that Austrian consumers are obviously more reluctant than their German counterparts to pass on their account details to the respective online store operator and prefer to pay directly via their bank.

Stumbling block: reluctance to register and pass on personal account dataHowever, the comfortable world of online shopping starts to crack when it comes to paying for the digital shopping basket. For retailers, this is one of the most critical moments of a successful customer journey: 65% of German and 64% of Austrian consumers show a certain aversion to having to register their personal data in online stores they are visiting for the first time, enter their desired payment method and create and remember new passwords. In general, the storage of personal payment data is unpopular: 59% of the German and 59% of the Austrian survey participants claim that their data is only stored in online stores where they frequently make their purchases.

Login and payment processes: Demand for a single digital identityIt is therefore not surprising that, given the often time-consuming registration jungle, 45% of German and 48% of Austrian consumers would welcome being able to log in, order and pay using one and the same digital identity (e.g. via a digital ID card) - regardless of the online retailer. Furthermore, around half of German and Austrian consumers agree that instead of launching more and more new payment methods, it would make much more sense to make their online banking usable for online orders.

Black box online marketplacesWhile 38% of retailers surveyed in the PAYONE retailer study "Payment systems today and in the future" were of the opinion that online marketplaces will never be on a par with direct trade in terms of generating and increasing sales, the attitude of end consumers speaks a different language. Consumers are increasingly shopping via marketplaces, new retailer sales channels that are currently growing faster than e-commerce. However, these platforms are largely a "black box" for shoppers, as it is far from clear to all shoppers which retailer they have placed their order with when they shop on a marketplace - and some consumers do not really seem to care: For example, 42% of German and 45% of Austrian survey participants admitted that they were not always aware of whether they were purchasing their goods in a marketplace environment or directly through a retailer. Only 54% of German and Austrian consumers always check where exactly and with whom they have placed their order.

Convenience beats cautionThis is in contrast to the fact that personal data is only reluctantly passed on (see above). This cautious restraint is often thrown overboard when it comes to convenience: 52% of German and Austrian consumers do not care whether they receive goods from a single online retailer or via a marketplace network, i.e. a website that also provides access to third-party products - as long as all orders can be bundled into one shipment and paid for as one shopping cart.

Conclusion: Online retailers are faced with unrealistically high demands from consumers: Shopping should be convenient and uncomplicated - crowned by an uncomplicated, fast and secure payment process without login hurdles, password requirements or security queries. One thing is certain: The "one & only" supertitan payment method that reconciles all these different parameters will not be feasible given the diverse preferences and needs on the consumer side. Online stores should therefore ensure that they provide a balanced payment mix and make it as easy as possible to pay for the shopping basket.

About PAYONE

PAYONE is a leading payment provider in Germany and Austria. In stationary retail, mobile or online - PAYONE helps retailers and service providers with the challenges of cashless payment. As a full-service payment service provider, PAYONE ensures digital payment processes that work quickly, easily and reliably. PAYONE develops individual solutions for all industries and company sizes in accordance with the highest security standards.

PAYONE's pioneering omnichannel concepts help retailers to offer their customers a cross-channel shopping experience. PAYONE pursues the goal of enabling integrated payment across all touchpoints. PAYONE processes 5.4 billion transactions per year for 277,000 customers. With around 1,400 employees at four locations, the company also offers numerous value-added services that go far beyond the traditional payment business. PAYONE is a joint venture between Worldline and the DSV Group. PAYONE works throughout Europe for well-known global brands as well as for small and medium-sized companies. These include Deutsche Bahn, Rossmann, PUMA, home24 and Sansibar. www.payone.com

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is a global market leader in payments and the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks and acquirers. With over 18,000 employees in more than 40 countries, Worldline provides sustainable, trusted and secure solutions to help its customers around the world grow. The services offered by Worldline include national and international commercial acquiring for both bricks-and-mortar and online business, the highly secure processing of payment transactions and a wide range of digital services. In 2021, Worldline generated pro forma sales of just under 4 billion euros. worldline.com

Press contact PAYONE:

Katharina Praschl
Am Belvedere 10 | 1100 Vienna
Phone: +43 1 71701 6534
katharina.praschl@payone.com