The last two years have been a prodigy of marked changes in a series of dynamics in our daily lives.
One of the most pressing has undoubtedly been the growth of e-commerce, which, with the help of social networks and the marketplaces that abound on them, has had a tremendous impact on changing Portuguese consumer habits and structuring business sales strategies.
85% of the Portuguese population uses the internet regularly
The report "Digital 2022: Portugal" estimates that by 2022, 85% of the Portuguese population are regular Internet users (+2.9% compared to the previous year) of which 80% (+9% than in 2021) have social media accountsAlthough the percentage is a little high, many users end up having more than one registered account.
Connecting to the Internet preferably via mobile phone (93.75%) or via personal computer (83.9%), Portuguese Internet users spend on average, 2h30 of their time browsing their social media accounts to keep in touch with family and friends, read the news or search for brands and products on marketplaces.
On this last point, it's important to emphasise that 47.9% of social network users choose to search for "information about brands or products" in their research and 33% "follow brands they've already bought a product from"information that helps to reiterate the importance of the Internet and, in particular, of social networks as channels for promoting and selling services and products that are exceptional for business.
Factors that drive purchases in Portugal
Deliveries, discounts and payments
The extraordinary ability to reach a wider audience and the tools that social networks put at the service of businesses simplify and amplify the act of buying and attract consumers.
However, in order to build customer loyalty and increase the number of sales in the competitive online world, it is necessary to take a long, hard look at the needs and desires of Internet users.
According to "Digital 2022: Portugal",
- free deliveries (74.5%);
- the discount coupons (49.9%);
- the simplified checkout (39.2%)
Other factors with less statistical significance, such as:
- ease of return;
- delivery the next day;
- the rating of the seller or shop;
- comments from other consumers on social networks.
These are all factors that Portuguese e-shoppers favour when choosing a service or online shop to make a purchase from.
Investing to build loyalty
In addition to investment in advertising (Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads, for example), this data indicates the need for online businesses with a social media presence to create and pursue marketing strategies (influencer marketing, email marketing, discount coupons, etc.) that not only keep customers and potential customers informed about what's new in the online shop or on the sales page of a marketplace.
If novelty helps to sell, as can be seen from the results of the study, 4.0 consumers strongly appreciate convenience.
This is reflected in the need for online businesses to establish partnerships with credible and reliable delivery services or, alternatively, to structure their own delivery services that deliver products to customers within one or two working days and, where possible, completely free of charge.
This will help the business not only to retain customers, but also to win new ones by gaining an advantage over the competition.
Selling more and winning more customers is a job that will never be complete without paying special attention to the online payments that are made available to customers.
Simplified checkout process
The desire for a simplified checkout is umbilically linked to this need.
Because there are slow checkout processes and payment methods that are out of step with Portuguese payment habits and unsuited to the platform where the business is located (professional website or social network marketplace), which almost inevitably lead to shopping cart abandonment and, consequently, the loss of a customer for that particular brand or company.
Flexible payment solutions
In order to respond to these needs related to the online payments and simplifying checkout, REDUNIQ is putting two solutions into the field that make life simpler and more profitable for those who sell online.
The first of these is called REDUNIQ@Payments and, in practice, it's a turnkey solution created with businesses in mind that operate mainly on marketplaces and social networks, i.e. sell online without a website.
In an intuitive way and without the need for integration, the REDUNIQ@Payments allows you to quickly and easily accept online payments by link via e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, by Multibanco or MB WAY reference and with Visa and Mastercard cards.
In operational terms, in a simple and secure way, @Payments provides a platform, optimised for smartphones and tablets, where businesses can charge for payment linkThis means creating a payment link, which can be sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp to the customer.
When the customer receives this payment order by link, all they have to do is click to be redirected to a secure REDUNIQ page, thus ensuring that the digital retailer does not have access to the card details at any stage of the payment.
In the case of a professional online shop with its own website, REDUNIQ offers the payment solution REDUNIQ E-Commerce.
A solution that is easy to integrate into the sales platform and allows the business to accept online payments in Portugal with debit and credit cards, Visa and Mastercard, from customers all over the world, with no membership costs or monthly fees.
