People might avoid buying from online stores for a multitude of reasons. However, statistically speaking, you only need to identify and address a few of them to recover most of the revenue you are currently losing.
There are many articles, research papers, and reports about eCommerce sites and up-to-date statistics on them. Here we will only discuss a few universal statistics that will help put the most common problems in perspective.
It has been reported by Forrester Research that 50 percent of potential sales are lost as a result of visitors being unable to locate what they are looking for on eCommerce sites. Reports say that at least 45% of US customers will abandon a purchase if they cannot easily find the information they need about a product or the shopping process.
These numbers suggest that customers need to locate whatever they are looking for quickly and easily.
Also, according to Business2Communitvy, around 86% of online consumers are willing to pay more for a smoother, better shopping experience. In addition, 49% are likely to make impulse purchases when they receive an email from a retailer.
It is possible to provide these services in many very simple ways, many of which we will cover in this article.
It is imperative that online merchants keep these factors in mind. Also, the fact that a positive user experience is probably the most important factor.
Let’s take a look at how most people fail.
Table of Contents
Why Customers Don’t Buy From an Online Shops: The 11 Most Common Online Shopping Problems
Check-Out process is too Complex
According to research conducted in the past few years, a significant number of studies on cart abandonment rates found that the most common reason customers abandon their cart is because they must force login into an eCommerce website to access a specific page or the complex checkout process.
Most e-tailers fail to take into account this important point: people are willing to undergo a complex process only if they perceive the value of the product they wish to purchase to be very high.
For complex products, where a customer spends considerable time researching, comparing prices, and selecting the most appropriate solution, a complex checkout process may be justified. They expect a very simple, very fast checkout process when they want to purchase small appliances, food, or clothes.
Lack of Product Description
In the absence of a text description of a product, the possibility of the page being in the top ten of a search engine query virtually eliminates, even in the case of a low-frequency query. Be sure to add a description to the item card; do not sabotage your page’s success.
Online gift stores (in the broadest sense) typically commit this error. So make sure to add a description of the product.
An effective way to determine how much unique content you need is to measure the default word count of a blank product page. Count the number of words that are used on each page of your site. This includes the navigation, sidebar, footer, and any text that a blank product page displays. Ensure that your unique content exceeds the “default” word count in order to achieve a greater weighting for unique content.
Having more unique content in your product description will always benefit your SEO efforts. However, you should keep the following points in mind:
- Provide quality descriptive content that aids your customers in making informed purchasing decisions.
- Do not copy content from other sites. This will result in penalties from the search engines.
- Test the number of words in a description to determine if this affects conversions. Excess content may detract from conversions.
False or Missing Reviews of Products
False product reviews are not only lazy and lying, but they are also often obvious. This is because they are written by you or your team and do not appear to come from your customers. Most of the time, you will not sound genuinely concerned.
Unprofessional, Dated Design
The visual impressions we receive from individuals or websites are always the first, and often the most influential, impression. Your customers may be discouraged from making a purchase if they have a negative impression of your store, even if it is completely legitimate otherwise. Try not to waste time convincing your potential customers: first impressions form in 0.05 to 0.1 seconds.
Unprofessionally designed online stores are not appealing to customers. You will find that customers will be reluctant to engage with your site if the design appears dated if images are missing or if buttons are absent. It provides a smooth experience to the customer when the site is well-designed and clean.
Do Not Show Your Prices
To avoid scaring people away from your pricing, you may think to hide product prices completely. When your visitors do not see your pricing schedule, they may lose trust in your business.
If you do not wish to link to your prices from the navigation bar, at least provide a link in the footer.
Inadequate Personalization
Offering a personalized shopping experience will significantly increase your chances of converting your visitors into customers. This is because you can display products that they are actually interested in, rather than your entire product line.
It is possible to approach this issue in many ways. Many sites that use personalization analyze previous behavior to suggest products that may be similar or relevant to those previously viewed or purchased by the user.
You can even go one step further by utilizing an on-site search engine that tracks the behavior of your customers in real-time and ranks the search results in accordance with what they are likely to need in real-time.
By not using personalization, you are giving the potential customer more work to do, and lengthen their purchase process. As a result, users are less likely to reach the product they are interested in and consequently abandon their carts.
Process of Checking Out is too Complex
Nearly all research into cart abandonment rates over recent years has confirmed that the third most common reason – after high or unexpected prices and forced account creation – people abandon their cart is the lengthy checkout process.
Most e-tailers have failed to appreciate this vital fact: customers will only endure through a lengthy process if they see the product as having a high perceived value.
When the customer spends a significant amount of time researching, comparing prices, and finding the most suitable solution, a complex checkout can be fully justified and act as a catalyst for the IKEA effect.
However, if they intend to purchase small appliances, food, clothes, or any other relatively low-value, everyday products, they expect a fast, convenient checkout process.
8. Additional charges
There is a universal reason for cart abandonment, and it’s when users are confronted with unexpected, or unexpectedly high charges at the end of the checkout process.
It is important to communicate your prices clearly in order to increase eCommerce sales. Fortunately, this can be done quite simply.
9. Lack of Tracking, Poor Logistics, and Long Delivery Times
When it comes to shipping, the cost is an important consideration (and communicating it appropriately is even more crucial) but logistics and shipping times are also a major concern.
When order tracking systems are accurate, they can often resolve issues with uncertainty.
10. No Live Chat Option and No Customer Support
Supporting your customers is not only a benefit to those who have already purchased from you, but it could also lead to the alienation of potential customers.
Many potential customers have many questions, especially if your product descriptions and attributes have insufficient or ambiguous descriptions. They will simply turn away if they do not receive adequate customer service and will not purchase.
According to Ameyo’s study, 57% of customers would rather contact companies via digital channels than via voice support.
11. Lack of a Flexible Return Policy
If you do not make your return policy flexible, it means you do not trust your own product.
If you comply with these policies, you build trust and make things much easier for those few customers who will actually return something, which will ultimately lead to a higher rate of retention.
Concluding Recommendations: Make Online Shopping Easy
Google is a search engine that is very concerned with the experience of its users. In order to achieve the respect of your customers, you should make your online store convenient and useful for them. You should make sure that what is good and unique to your clients is also good for Google.
The longer your visitors stay on your site, with less time spent visiting the search results page, is an indication that Google is sending them in the right direction.
Lastly, people who appreciate your website and what it offers are more likely to link to it. And as mentioned previously, links are what will propel your website to the top of the search engine results page!
Author Bio:
Maleeha Siddiqah is a professional digital marketer who is currently working for FMEextensions, a leading Magento development firm. She also writes content related to search engine optimization, social media, and eCommerce. Her content has been published on several top technology websites. You can find her on LinkedIn.
