Are you also finding topsy-turvy in your online business? Chances are, you are not addressing the online shopping pain points of your customers. Well, online shopping is undoubtedly an upward trail. But, here’s the kicker, while there are 2.05 billion online shoppers in 2020, online sales account for only about 9% of retail.
That’s quite unimpressive numbers, but it also shows that there’s huge room for improvement. Unfortunately, there are still online shoppers who refuse to purchase online, and your great products, competitive prices, or easy checkout have little to do with it.
Here, we will look closely at the most common online shoppers’ problems and provide a practical solution for each. Let’s get started!
Putting online shoppers issues into Perspective
To bring more context for online shopper’s issues and challenges, let’s look at the numbers regarding the performance of e-stores and the state of the global market.
- E-Commerce revenue is projected to grow to 5.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022 (Statista)
- Approximately 330 million people have made an online purchase in 2020 (Statista)
- E-Commerce Share of total global retail sales in 2024 will be 21.8 % (Statista)
- In 2020, a total of over 80% of consumers across the globe shopped online (Statista)
- Global eCommerce growth rates hit 27.6% in 2020 (Statista)
As the market continues to grow, so do the challenges for businesses trying to set up an online store and attract and retail customers.
The fact of the matter is that online shopping has become a priority for buyers and necessary for store owners to serve their customers. However, the numbers given above prove that people like to do online shopping, and those numbers are not that fine as they still find inconvenience in doing online shopping.
Low customer rates and problems in attaining customers are just the tip of the iceberg; running an eCommerce store comes with its own set of challenges and problems that can ruin the revenue, create financial losses and many more.
So, the question is what stopping online shoppers and what can you do?
Let’s find out together!
Biggest eCommerce Challenges of Online Shoppers:
The meaning of online shopping is that one can buy things from the comfort of their homes. It doesn’t mean inconvenience, discomfort, and bad experiences. People go online because they are no more interested in visiting multiple stores to find the right product and standing in long lines at the checkout counter.
The eCommerce market has certainly changed the way we shop for the better. But, like everything else, the world of online shopping is down in the dumps. Despite all the efforts of eCommerce stores to alleviate them, there are still a few challenges that customers have to face while shopping online. Let’s discuss each one by one.
1. Lack of Customer Support
We all believe in the perception that having several items or products is key to online domination. However, choosing between many products can be physically exhausting. Providing too many choices without any assistance is a source of great customer frustration that you have to be mindful of. Once your shoppers are stressed out, there’s a chance that they won’t choose anything at all.
Solution:
As a store owner, it is important to choose the purchase path of your customer. In today’s time, where some customers are millennials shop online not knowing what they want exactly, but the fact is they want it fast.
It is your responsibility to help them discover what they want and offer them ways to easily and intuitively pick the product that’s right for them.
2. It’s Can of Worms
One of the common and biggest challenges online shoppers are facing is complex-looking sites. Yes, they are frustrated by complicated site navigations, more than required options and irrelevant details. Even research has found that half of the potential sales are lost because your visitors cannot find what they are looking for. You don’t have to teach your visitors how to navigate your website; it should come naturally.
Solution:
When it comes to a solution, you need to make sure that your navigation and site structure is simple yet informative. There are many tools available in the market that can help you understand what your shoppers are trying to do and the number of clicks it takes them to find the product they are looking for.
Ultimately, remove all the jargon that can distract your visitors and allow them to get a good feel for your store or brand and the product you are offering. Having site effortless and intuitive can help you reduce shopper’s frustration and build their confidence.
Meanwhile, make them feel that everything is roses.
3. Lack of Excitement
There should be a western dress for the party instead of a retro style. If we cannot compromise with the trend for the party, how do you think that your customers will enjoy those old theme websites and sluggish websites for choosing their things?
It may come to you as a surprise, but this is the reality that you cannot deny as an attention span of online shoppers. The thing is, when online shoppers are distracted, uninspired or bored, they will not look back.
Solution:
What you can do is create rich, powerful adventures that resonate with today’s impatient shoppers. For that, you can integrate Magento 2 featured product slider extension to give personalized recommendations to customers. Also, integrate technology that makes shopping more seamless and engaging. And, remember to always design your website with speed in mind. You can consult eCommerce experts to make sure your website is high-performing and up to the mark.
4. Unclear Product Details
Do you know that 53% of U.S. online adults are likely to abandon their online purchase if they can’t find a quick answers to their questions? That means time is a valuable asset for them, and they hate dealing with returns just as much as retailers do.
Even they refuse to buy a product online if they cannot capture it mentally or imagine how it will look once unpacked. Therefore, not providing detailed product information that addresses the shopper’s questions about a product is a crucial mistake.
They don’t trust you more and trigger your visitors to leave your store in a hot second. Meanwhile, they need a proper description of every product they see and want a clear answer to their respected questions.
Solution:
The best solution you can get is not to flummox your visitors by ticking them. Instead, help them assess your product properly and bring them all the information they need to feel comfortable purchasing your product.
Consistency is key to make sure your customer is fine with your product information and detail. And for that, you have to keep your product information as clear as water.
End of the Story!
To conclude, online shopping is far too easy to get hindered by these shopper’s challenges. But, if eCommerce store owners can fix these issues, they will certainly enhance customer experience and reap more benefits and more sales.
Do you want to improve your customer experience? M-connect Media can be your one-stop solution. We have an in-house team of eCommerce experts who can help you fix your eCommerce site issues by auditing your site. Get in touch with us to know more.