The top ten reasons that deter potential customers from making an e-commerce purchase are revealed
Online retailers are losing out on additional revenue by not utilising simple methods to capture sales from potential customers, new research has revealed.
A survey of 1,213 UK adults carried out by leading digital marketing agency, Marketingsignals.com, revealed that more than half (58%) of e-commerce businesses are putting off potential customers by making simple errors.
The research revealed the top ten reasons that deter potential customers from purchasing from a website. The primary reason was found to be insufficient or poor quality product imagery (61%), closely followed by inadequate product descriptions (57%).
The research also found that more than half (52%) of these businesses are failing potential customers with their lack of customer service, while 47% have overly intrusive discount pop ups on the home page, which can potentially detract users from making a purchase.
The research further revealed that 43% of UK adults would be put off by websites that have an over complicated check-out process, while 41% would be deterred by an e-commerce business which has little or no social media presence.
A third (34%) of those questioned said that a lack of delivery options would deter them from from making an online purchase, whilst a website that wasn’t optimised for mobile devices would put off 27% of respondents.
Of those surveyed, a staggering 16% said they’d be put off from making a purchase if they couldn’t see company information or an ‘about us’ page. Completing the top ten reasons which deter users from making a purchase was customers who prefer to use alternative payment methods, with over one in ten (11%) saying that they’d seek to make their purchase elsewhere if a website did not accept the PayPal or Apple Pay.
Gareth Hoyle, managing director at Marketingsignals.com comments: “It’s clear from the research that many potential customers are being put off from making a purchase from websites they are not familiar with, which makes it so much more important for e-commerce businesses to make the checkout process as simple as possible in order for them to complete their transaction smoothly.
“In this social media age, it’s perhaps unsurprising that 41% of Brits would be put off from making a purchase from a website that is unfamiliar to them and doesn’t have a visible social media presence.
“Internet savvy consumers are always keen to spot a bargain, though can be put off by over complicated or seemingly untrustworthy websites when attempting to make a purchase, instead opting to buy from a site they already know and trust. So what this research demonstrates is that it’s clear that there are simple steps e-commerce businesses can take in order to improve conversion rates from first time visitors to their site.”
The top ten reasons that deter customers from making an e-commerce purchase:
1. Insufficient or poor quality product imagery – 61%
2. Inadequate product descriptions – 57%
3. Lack of customer service – 52%
4. Distracting/Intrusive pop ups – 47%
5. Over complicated check-out process – 43%
6. Little or no social media presence – 41%
7. Lack of delivery options – 34%
8. Desktop-only site design – 27%
9. Insufficient or lack of company information – 16%
10. Not accepting alternative payment methods including PayPal and Apple Pay – 11%
