The Finnish market continues to grow and is a great opportunity to expand your business. Since 70% of the population can speak English, it’s an ideal market for British retailers.
Whether you already have operations in Finland or are just getting started, it’s important to know the delivery preferences of Finnish eCommerce consumers.
This article will explain everything you need to know about shipping preferences, from cost expectations and preferred delivery methods to how Pro Carrier can help ship to Finland and satisfy your customers.
An Overview of the Finnish eCommerce Market
While Finland’s eCommerce market is not the biggest, it is still rapidly growing. Revenue is expected to grow by a rate of 8.8% annually, and the projected market volume will be 9.8 billion by the year 2027. Furthermore, experts predict the number of Finnish eCommerce users to rise by 4 million in the next four years.
The 38th largest eCommerce market worldwide, Finland sells a variety of goods. The most purchased items in Finland are electronics, toy and hobby products, clothing and fashion accessories, beauty and health care and food.
Finnish Consumer Delivery Preferences
Ever since the pandemic, eCommerce has boomed worldwide. In Finland, Covid-19 increased online shopping by 30%. Now that people are used to delivery, they also have preferences; this is no exception for Finnish customers.
Finns prioritise having various shipping locations to choose from as well as affordable prices when it comes to delivery. Keep reading to find out what else you need to know.
Home Delivery
Home delivery will never go out of style due to its convenience. With more consumers shopping online these days, Finnish customers enjoy the ease of coming home and finding their parcel right on their doorstep. According to Statista, around 60% of people in Finland prefer home delivery.
If you want to join the Finnish eCommerce market, having home delivery as an option is a must. Otherwise, over half of your potential customers may choose a different retailer.
Express Delivery
In some countries like the States, offering express delivery can make or break a sale. However, Finnish customers are not as concerned about delivery time and will not think twice if your business does not offer express delivery. Ultimately, consumers in Finland care more about delivery location than speed.
To give you an idea of what Finnish customers are used to, about 40% of consumers receive their packages within 4-7 days. Only 12% of eCommerce customers will receive their package within 1-3 days (express delivery).
PUDO
PUDO, also known as pick-up and drop-off points, are locations where customers can pick up or drop off parcels. PUDO is becoming a popular delivery option as consumers can often choose from various access points and pick up the package anytime. This delivery method is also sustainable; Finns will appreciate having a green choice when checking out.
While PUDO is a relatively new option, this shipping method is popular in Finland. According to Statista, 50% of Finnish consumers prefer parcel lockers, 36% prefer postal service pick-up points, and 31% prefer other PUDO pick-up locations.
Furthermore, data in 2021 reports that Finland has around 13,000 PUDO locations, with 8,500 of them made up from the leading three parcel locker couriers.
According to this data, most people in Finland prefer PUDO as a delivery option, coming in a close second to home delivery. To best suit your customer's needs, we highly recommend offering PUDO to Finnish customers.
Luckily, Finland has several couriers that offer PUDO; with Pro Carrier's help, we have various carriers that will best suit your and your customer's needs.
Sustainable Delivery
While the booming eCommerce market has led to fast production and quick delivery worldwide, some countries care more about sustainability than others and are willing to sacrifice some convenience to help the environment.
According to data from 2019, around 78% of people in Finland believe that practising sustainability in their lives is important. Furthermore, Finland is ranked number one regarding their sustainable development goals.
In terms of delivery methods and shipping, 36% of Finnish consumers who completed a 2021 survey stated that they preferred sustainable delivery. Survey respondents also slightly preferred sustainable packaging over carbon-neutral delivery.
Many Finnish customers are also willing to pay for more sustainable products and want retailers to be socially and environmentally responsible.
Delivery Cost and Expectations
Compared to people in other European countries, Finnish customers are easy to please. The main reason is that they do not prioritise or frankly care about fast shipping.
Around 40% of Finnish consumers receive their package in 4-7 days, 27% in 8-14 days and 18% in 15-30+ days. As you can see, their expectations around delivery time are not high.
However, since the pandemic, more Finns are shopping online. About 57% shop online every month, while 29% make a weekly online purchase. Since these customers are used to eCommerce shopping, you’ll have to stay on top of things to satisfy them.
While some big sites like Amazon do not offer free shipping to Finns, many Finnish retailers provide free shipping. So while some customers are okay with paying for delivery, most can find similar products elsewhere with free shipping.
Overall, factors like free shipping and allowing customers to choose their delivery location will boost traffic on your eCommerce site.
Ship to Finland With Pro Carrier
Do you want to enter the Finnish eCommerce market? Pro Carrier is here to help.
Our cross-border service can help you meet your consumer’s needs by letting you prioritise factors that are important to Finnish customers, like shipping options and price.
With our integrative platform, you have full visibility of your orders and with bespoke tracking you can provide customers with accurate costs and delivery times when they check out. Furthermore, your customers will get all updates in their language, making the platform easy to use.
If you want to learn more about growing your eCommerce business in Finland, speak to an expert today.
