Crypto issues in e-commerce, by demographic 2022

The main issues consumers face when using crypto for e-commerce is the lack of stores and products that accepts them, as well as high transaction fees. Among those surveyed by CryptoRefills, a company which sells vouchers and gift cards in exchange for cryptocurrencies, high transaction fees, especially, were the most prevalent issue in 2021. By 2022, the company stated, this issue had been overtaken by the unavailability of crypto payments on certain websites or for specific products. The source argues this was a sign of "the limited subset [of crypto commerce] within the overall retail sector". Consumers in late 2021 hoped to use crypto as a payment method on travel, whereas the industry that focused most on these payments was luxury goods. Ever since cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin became known to many as a "digital alternative to money", a discussion rages on whether such digital coins could be a viable way to pay for online shopping. Some argue crypto is not designed for such applications as a Bitcoin transaction, for example, can take up to 40 minutes to complete.

Problems faced by consumers when using cryptocurrencies for online shopping in 2022, by age and income group

Consumer demographic	Store/product not available	Transaction fees	Frauds/scams	Transaction delays	Volatility/instability of crypto	Preferred network not supported	Payment complexity	High prices	Preferred currency not supported	Not trusting stores	Price ambiguity	Bad customer care	Privacy concerns	Other
Total	40.5%	35.3%	23.3%	21%	18.4%	16.3%	14%	12.8%	12.5%	11.1%	7.9%	7.3%	5.2%	1.1%
Age groups:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15-24 years old	43.6%	34%	29.8%	31.9%	14.9%	13.8%	8.5%	12.8%	14.9%	10.6%	10.6%	5.3%	2.1%	0.9%
25-34 years old	40.4%	35.8%	21.2%	16.6%	19.9%	17.9%	15.9%	14.6%	14.6%	9.9%	6.6%	9.3%	5.3%	1%
35-44 years old	31.4%	34.3%	17.1%	15.7%	20%	15.7%	15.7%	8.6%	5.7%	14.3%	2.9%	4.3%	4.3%	1.2%
45 years and older	57.1%	38.1%	28.6%	14.3%	19%	14.3%	19%	4.8%	9.5%	4.8%	9.5%	9.5%	14.3%	2%
Income level:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
$5,000 or less	42.9%	34.8%	27.7%	21.4%	21.4%	15.2%	13.4%	13.4%	10.7%	8.9%	7.1%	8%	4.5%	0.9%
$5,000-$9,999	36%	30%	20%	22%	16%	20%	16%	14%	16%	6%	16%	14%	4%	0.6%
$10,000-$49,999	38.7%	38.7%	22.6%	17.7%	18.5%	16.9%	12.9%	12.9%	13.7%	12.9%	6.5%	5.6%	4.8%	1.1%
$50,000 or more	40.4%	34%	12.8%	27.7%	10.6%	12.8%	17%	12.8%	10.6%	12.8%	4.3%	2.1%	6.4%	1.4%

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Release date

November 2022

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

February to June 2022

Number of respondents

N = 15,960 unique individuals (of which 413 filled in all questions in the survey)

Age group

15 years and older

Special properties

registered users of CryptoRefills, see the "Details" tab for more information on the users

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

The results are unlikely to have been weighted to represent the global population. This as the source adds the following information on the ratio of its respondents when compared to figures from the World Bank:

Europe & Central Asia: 24.8 percent (against 11.8 percent of the world);
South Asia: 20.9 percent (against 24.0 percent of the world);
Sub-Saharan Africa: 13.6 percent (against 14.9 percent of the world);
Middle East & North Africa: 13.1 percent (against 6.0 percent of the world);
East Asia & Pacific: 10.9 percent of the survey (against 30.2 percent of the world's population);
Latin America & Caribbean: 10.2 percent (against 8.4 percent of the world);
North America: 6.6 percent (against 4.7 percent of the world).

Consequently, the source adds it felt Europe & Central Asia was overrepresented whilst East Asia and Pacific was underrepresented. It cited "effective regulations, political embargoes, and access restrictions on many web services provided by the “West” in China, North Korea, etc." as possible reasons for this, but it also did not rule out a language barrier in the survey - as it was only held in English.

Furthermore, the source adds that the share of immigrants among its respondents - 17.2 percent - was higher than the 3.6 percent observed in the world population. It cites "the increasing immigrant population" as a main driver for Europe's overrepresentation.

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