As part of a representative survey that the opinion research institute Civey conducted on behalf of the association among more than 1,000 consumers in Germany, it also emerged that regrets after purchasing online are comparatively rare. However, a good one or one in five respondents would like more time to think about it and confirm each order again after 24 hours.
According to BEVH, when asked “How often do you actively make sure that you can afford the purchase before ordering?” According to BEVH, three out of four respondents (75.3%) answered “always” in the survey, while another 10 9% say they do this “very often” or “frequently”. 11.6% stated that they “rarely” (3.0%) or “never” (8.6%) pay attention to their money. According to the association, this also includes people with high incomes for whom budget limits play a smaller role anyway. 2.2% could not give an answer.
The industry association explains that online retail is often accused of using manipulative practices – so-called dark patterns – to give consumers “a push” to buy things that they originally didn’t want or need. “It is difficult to investigate how strong dark patterns actually have an effect. Instead, there are many opinions and scaremongering. If consumers buy en masse against their will, then sooner or later this would have to become noticeable through increased buyer’s remorse,” explains BEVH Managing Director Christoph Wenk-Fischer. However, only 7.2% of the online buyers surveyed can clearly agree with the statement “After shopping online, I often feel as if I had been pressured into ordering.” 87.3% of respondents feel they can make their purchasing decisions freely, and 5.5% “don’t know” how to answer.
In order to strengthen “digital fairness” in online shopping, an additional confirmation requirement for orders is sometimes proposed: Before a package can be sent, consumers would then have to wait another day and actively confirm each purchase a second time. “Online customers know that they have a legal right of return of 14 days – you would think that would be enough to make them reconsider purchasing decisions,” counters Wenk-Fischer. The survey results also point in this direction: 52.4% of the consumers surveyed would find an additional waiting time “definitely wrong”, and a further 13.2% “rather wrong”. However, 8.5% found it “definitely correct” and 14.3% “somewhat correct” (together 22.8%). 11.6% could not answer the question.