DHL: 63% of U.S. Consumers’ Cross-Border Purchases Come from China
U.S. consumers are placing greater importance on fast delivery, easy returns, and transaction trust, while the share of purchases from China rose from 60% in 2025 to 63% in 2026.
What are the key facts?
- 193% of U.S. consumers are classified as convenience-oriented consumers
- 2The share of purchases from China rose to 63%
- 352% of U.S. consumers avoid international shopping because of trust concerns
- 451% of U.S. respondents have purchased second-hand or refurbished products
What happened?
DHL’s 2026 e-commerce trend data shows that U.S. consumers generally value convenience, with 93% classified as convenience-oriented consumers who prioritize fast, free delivery and easy returns. In cross-border purchases, the share from China rose from 60% in 2025 to 63% in 2026; the share from the United Kingdom rose from 25% to 28%, and the share from Canada rose from 18% to 23%. However, 52% of U.S. consumers still avoid international shopping because they are concerned about fraud or a lack of trust. Over the next five years, 57% of consumers want same-day or faster delivery and returns. In addition, 51% of U.S. respondents have purchased second-hand or refurbished products. These trends indicate that low prices alone are unlikely to compensate for shortcomings in delivery speed, return arrangements, and brand trust. Cross-border sellers targeting the U.S. market need to focus on local return addresses, estimated delivery times, tariff transparency, delivery tracking, refurbishment-grade descriptions, and after-sales commitments.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
U.S. consumers increasingly value fast delivery, easy returns, tariff transparency, and transaction trust; low prices alone cannot compensate for slow delivery or unclear after-sales service. Sellers targeting the U.S. market should clearly state estimated delivery times, tracking, local returns, refurbishment grades, and after-sales commitments in listings and customer service.
What should sellers do now?
- 1This week, revise key U.S. store listings by adding estimated delivery times, delivery tracking, tariff transparency, a local return address, and after-sales commitments to the first screen; use a tool to check each item against character limits and retain the results.Listing character checker
- 2This week, create standard customer-service responses for delivery, returns, tariffs, and after-sales commitments for the U.S. store, covering common inquiries; launch a test with an AI customer-service tool and sample responses to verify that they include timing, tracking, and return information.AI Customer Service
- 3This week, review listings for second-hand or refurbished products in the U.S. store, add refurbishment grades, product condition, delivery tracking, and after-sales details, produce a page-by-page completion checklist, and retain change records.Listing Optimizer