High shipping costs repel online buyers: PayPal

High shipping costs, security concerns and lack of convenience are leading many online shoppers in the United States to abandon their purchases, research conducted by PayPal revealed.

The PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study showed that 46 percent of US shoppers cited high shipping charges as the primary reason why they discontinued their online purchase. While nothing could have prevented one-third of shoppers from abandoning purchases, the survey found that providing shipping costs upfront might have influenced 40 percent of the survey respondents to complete the purchase.

Thirty-seven percent of online shoppers said they backed out of a possible online purchase because they wanted to compare prices in a different online store. Another 36 percent said they lacked money to complete the transaction while 27 percent said they wanted to look for a coupon.

Twenty-six percent of respondents in the PayPal survey said they wanted to shop offline while 24 percent said they couldn't find a preferred pay option.

To help merchants encourage shoppers to purchase, PayPal has announced a new Express Checkout feature – which includes PayPal Instant Update API. By integrating the new API, merchants can show order details earlier in the process including shipping options, insurance choices and tax totals.

"To get shoppers to complete their purchases, it is critical that merchants make the checkout experience easy and costs transparent," said Mario Shiliashki, General Manager of PayPal Southeast Asia and India. "Our new PayPal Instant Update API will help merchants get customers the information they need upfront to drive sales."

The survey also uncovered signs that the economy still has shoppers wary about clicking the "purchase" button. More than one-third of respondents abandoned checkout because they didn't plan for all of the expenses; while more than 25 percent left the site to search for a coupon. However, one-third of shoppers later returned to the same site to buy. Twenty percent of those surveyed eventually went on to purchase the items at a physical store or at a competitor's website.

“Besides the cost factor, merchants who aim to sell to a global audience need to remember that online shopping needs to be a hassle-free and safe experience for the buyer,” added Shiliashki.

The PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study was conducted by comScore among active shoppers who had recently abandoned a shopping cart. In the United States 553 people participated between May 12-15, 2009. All respondents were asked about their most recent abandoned session, regardless of the site involved.

Malaysian newspapers face challenge from online media

Malaysia's traditional newspapers are facing a serious challenge from online news portals, which are winning a reputation for being fast and more credible than the government-friendly press.

The number of Internet newspapers has mushroomed from one to eight over the past two years, with new titles appearing in Chinese, Malay and English to cater to the multicultural population.

"I don't really trust the newspapers as they are controlled by the government," says engineer Ryan Kong, 30, as he clicks on the website of pioneer portal Malaysiakini to get his daily dose.

"There are the cost and convenience factors, and I can get today's news today rather than wait until tomorrow for the newspaper," he said.

Malaysiakini began operating a decade ago, but its competitors now include the popular Malaysian Insider and the latest entrant, the Malaysian Mirror, which was launched last month.

Unlike other countries where the most popular portals churn out celebrity gossip and paparazzi shots, Malaysia's top sites focus on politics, corruption allegations and serious social issues including race relations.

Editors expect a challenging time ahead for mainstream newspapers and television stations which are mostly government-linked, and often viewed with suspicion by the tech-savvy younger crowd.

"There is a credibility crisis with regards to what is written in mainstream media -- the level of believability among the people seems to be less," said Bernama national news agency editorial adviser Azman Ujang.

The rise of online newspapers began with political turmoil in 1998 that saw Anwar Ibrahim sacked as deputy prime minister and jailed on sex and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Malaysians flocked to the Internet for coverage of his trial, and major political events since then have also triggered spikes in viewership.

In 2008 national elections that saw the opposition -- now led by Anwar -- make stunning gains, the rise of news websites and blogs was credited as a major factor behind its success.

"The Internet has been lauded as the medium that actually could change the general election results. The next election, in three or four years time, will be an Internet election," said Malaysiakini chief editor Steven Gan.

"Eventually you will see the Internet as the main medium for the dissemination of news and for other things here, and the traditional media will play a secondary role."

Malaysia's media operates under a publishing permit system, which allows the government to shut down outlets at will.

However, in 1996 it pledged not to censor online content as part of a campaign to promote its information technology sector. Despite occasional raids, bans and government criticism, the online media remain relatively free.

Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia said that in the year ending June 2008, average daily newspaper circulation stood at 2.5 million copies, down from 2.54 million copies in the previous year.

Online media, meanwhile, have enjoyed a steady rise in readership, with Malaysiakini saying it attracted 2.0 million unique visitors a month while Malaysian Insider says it drew some 800,000.

Despite their success, online news outlets mostly operate on a modest scale, with often just a handful of journalists working from cramped offices. Few have yet managed to become profitable.

David Yeoh, managing editor of top-selling English-language daily The Star which has a daily circulation of about 300,000 copies, is optimistic however that online media will not replace newsprint in the near future.

"The generation that is comfortable with the newspaper as a product is still around. It will be at least one generation -- at least 30 years -- before newspapers can become redundant here," he said.

Paypal's Asia Mall now open

PayPal announced Thursday the opening of its online Asia Mall, an online shopping store offering great deals and special offers for cash-conscious online shoppers.

Major online retailers in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan are already present in PayPal’s Asia Mall and are offering a range of promotional offers to PayPal customers, from 20 percent discounts to free warranties and free cross-border delivery.

PayPal shoppers can browse through the promotions offered by Asian retailers in a range of categories, including the hugely popular online health and beauty store, Sasa.com, and the leading online gadget store, DealExtreme, with more Asian retailers expected to join the online store in coming months.

“Online shoppers today are looking for choice, convenience and bargains and will happily purchase from overseas retailers to satisfy these needs,” said Farhad Irani, Vice President of Asia Pacific, PayPal.

“Our Asia Mall offers Asian merchants the opportunity to connect with millions of these shoppers and drive cross-border trade for their business.”

Asia Pacific is currently one of PayPal’s fastest growing regions with 12 million accounts and more than $4 billion of total payment volume processed in the region in 2008, an increase of 56 percent from 2007.