By Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_)
Released on September 19, a new report from WorldPay has concluded that demand for digital content in major global economies is “eroding the market for physical products,” and the payment processor’s research provided startling new statistics to bolster this claim.
WorldPay revealed that the majority – 57 percent – of global adult consumers prefer to buy digital products. Most notable was that consumers in some of the world’s largest markets – China and India – overwhelmingly prefer digital content, with 70 percent and 68 percent of these consumers indicating this preference.
However, the study went beyond simply querying consumers in Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Korea and the United States about what types of content – music, video games, e-books – they buy online. WorldPay also uncovered new details about the payment types they prefer to use and the common obstacles that inhibit them from converting on these purchases.
“Frustrations translate directly into business effectiveness – consumers that hit obstacles in the purchasing experience may decide it’s not worth their while,” the report authors said.
In this PYMNTS.com Data Point, we break down the numbers to illustrate what global merchants should know about global consumers so they can partner payment providers and select solutions that enable them to boost checkout performance.
72% Of Global Consumers Want To Save Payment Details
WorldPay indicated that digital consumers are the most satisfied when the purchasing process is simple and pain-free. Seventy-two percent of consumers said they want to be able to save their payment details to make faster purchases, and 80 percent said they preferred to use the same payment type for all digital purchases.
Consumers in the U.S. reported changing payment methods the least, with 86 percent noting that they use the same payment method for all digital purchases. But, across all countries this sentiment remained strong.
Credit Cards Most Preferred Digital Payment Method
Globally, 90 percent of respondents indicated that credit cards were the most preferred and most common method of payment. However, there were regional variations.
In the U.K., debit cards were found to be the primary payment method for digital content, and in Russia mobile wallets were the main payment type.
Seventy-five percent of global respondents said they found it frustrating when they were unable to use their preferred method payment, though this was higher in some areas. Eighty-three percent of Brazilian digital content consumers find it frustrating when met with this challenge.
Top Consumer Purchasing Frustrations
WorldPay noted that top purchasing frustrations varied substantially by country, but upon a closer inspection, patterns emerge. In Asian countries – India and China – consumers were most concerned with their payment processing timing out.
By comparison, in English-speaking nations such as the U.S. and the U.K., remembering usernames and passwords was the top online purchasing frustration, capturing 36 percent and 33 percent of the vote, respectively.
Apps Are Top Choice For One-Off Payments
The report also took a look at whether consumers preferred to make one-off payments, subscription payments or a combination of both payment types when spending money online for a wide range of purchases.
However, apps were found to the most common one-off purchase, followed by e-books and digital music.
For more details about which types of digital content consumers most commonly pay for with subscription payments or a combination of these payment types, download the full report from WorldPay here.
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