The United States remains one of the biggest e-commerce markets after posting a dramatic 40 percent growth in 2020. Within the same period, the census bureau noted that the industry earned almost $800 billion.
So you may be wondering why it feels you’re not getting the share of the pie. Not only are your profits the same or lower than before, but your analytics is confirming it. Your bounce rates are high, and so is your cart abandonment rate.
In plain words, your customers are no longer buying from you.
People can provide a long list of reasons they avoid visiting your website again, but usually, they all boil down to the following:
1. The Website Isn’t Easy to Use
In one of the surveys, over 40 percent of the participants said they didn’t like websites with cluttered menus and categories. But the lack of them can also be a source of headache. Nearly 30 percent also mentioned that poor search functionality would make the experience worse.
On the other hand, about 33 percent claimed that they’d want e-commerce sites to show price adjustments after the customers have chosen discounts or used vouchers and promos.
After all, shipping is one of the deciding factors for a lot of online shoppers. In a 2020 research by Baymard.com, over half of the respondents said they’re willing to abandon the cart if the extra costs are too high.
Lastly, 25 percent of online shoppers didn’t want to create an online account to buy a product. Usually, they hated the long process to complete the form, or they’re wary of their information’s security.
That’s not all. Your website may also be difficult to use if online shoppers cannot buy through their mobile devices.
The latest data suggests that around 70 percent of smartphone users have already shopped online using their mobile devices. Mobile e-commerce now accounts for 10 percent of all retail revenue, and experts believe its share will only grow in the future.
How do you resolve this? Entrepreneurs need to stop believing that an eye-candy website will make it. Today, web development should already include both user (U/X) and user interface design. But that is easier said than done.
That’s why one web development company has introduced a five-step approach to designing pages. The primary goal is to understand the brand, the market, and the message and then translate these data to a meaningful, functional e-commerce site.
2. The Page Appears Too Salesy
Many people want to buy, but most don’t want that fact shoved down through their throats. This was the finding of one of the earliest studies of Nielsen Norman Group on online shopping.
When they asked hundreds of Internet customers about the most important reasons they shop on the web, about 39 percent said they liked that there’s no sales pressure. In fact, more people cited this reason than easy payment procedures.
Customers also don’t buy items right away. Instead, 82 percent said they’d research detailed information about the product.
However, probably the most startling result of the survey is that only 2 percent actually ended up buying a product after they’d done their research. That means such a website may convert only 5 percent of its prospects into customers.
The following data might provide the information. Over 30 percent of individuals who did non-buying visits were looking for other data—and couldn’t find them.
In the end, only a small percentage does buy things immediately from a website. Most take time to get to know the product and the brand, but this is an opportunity to convert if the company can avoid pushing too much their items and instead support customer behavior like making wise purchase decisions.
3. You Provided Poor Customer Service
The secret to both conversion and loyalty is excellent customer service. Meanwhile, the cost of a bad consumer experience can be staggering. In a 2018 NewVoiceMedia report, companies could lose at least $75 billion annually. That’s over $60 billion more back in 2016.
Nearly 70 percent of customers will become serial switchers—that is, changing their brand loyalty because of poor customer service. Further, these customers are likely to leave negative reviews, and these will also hurt.
Based on statistics, one negative review can readily reduce your website visitors by 35 percent. Three more, and your sales can already decrease by as much as 70 percent.
But how do you know customers are happy with the service? One of the best steps is to know your net promoter score (NPS). It provides insights to business owners on the level of satisfaction and the potential of loyalty of the customers.
Depending on the score, you can dig deeper into the customer service process by performing an audit on the system and the team that provides it.
There’s no better time to be part of the e-commerce world than today while there’s still enough space for everyone and the industry is growing. But for you to truly enjoy the rewards of your efforts, correct the barriers of sales first.
