Online retailers are in a mess

Friday, 08 May 2009 |

Online retailers are in a state. For weeks now they have been buoyed along by the theory that thanks to the recession people will flock to the internet to buy things. Predictions even include the notion that online sales will rise by 11% this year - in spite of the economic downturn.

Online shopping is not a happy experience

It's hard to see why people will flock online when they are deserting the bricks and mortar stores in their droves. True, they may want to find bargains or they may wish to reduce their travel expenses - but they will still be spending money which they would rather avoid. Indeed, as reported earlier this year, there is evidence that people plan to spend less in 2009.

Now there is new evidence that suggests why this might be the case. Two new studies are released today which reveal worrying news for anyone trying to sell things online. Firstly, according to Internet Retailing, satisfaction with online shopping has fallen back to the levels of 2006. In other words, in spite of three more years of development, people are finding that online shopping is less positive an experience. Online retailers seem to be making things worse for shoppers, rather than better.

A second study shows that people are giving up online shopping because there aren't enough payment options. Indeed, if a customer's preferred form of payment is not available up to half of them will give up buying. Most internet retailers accept credit cards - but it seems that many shoppers would prefer to pay in other ways, including cash. Failing to accept all forms of payment means that you lose shoppers from your web site.

If you are trying to sell things online you ought to review your ecommerce functions as soon as possible. Is shopping on your site a happy experience? Is it easy to use and navigate? Or is online shopping at your web site only feasible if you have an engineering degree? Similarly, what payment options do you offer? If you only offer a few, you are losing up to 50% of your potential market.

3 Comments

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Jaimie Dobson (INternet Consultant) makes this comment

Saturday 9 May, 2009

Good post. I feel that e-commerce will benefit from traditional high-street shoppers migrating online looking for bargains. Evidence for this is already being seen. In such circumstances, price is generally the motivating factor to buy, but having said that the concept of making the shopper feel secure and comfortable through goood design and simple purchasing process on a website will always be omnipotent.
Jane Revell-Higgins makes this comment

Tuesday 12 May, 2009

Surely one of the key points here is that any merchant or a retailer should first specialise in the sourcing, buying, packaging, marketing, creating demand & selling of goods - that's where the expertise is .... the channels used to reach customers and/or enable customers to buy are secondary in all of this .... there are experts a-plenty to tap for each channel whether it be bricks & mortar, online, print catalogue, press advertising .... sales are not "lost" to the internet - they are sales that have simply been transacted online but will likely as not have been driven by offline actvity ....
Catalogue ebusiness makes this comment

Tuesday 12 May, 2009

The point about the need to offer site visitors an easy, enjoyable experience and myriad payment options is sound, of course. But the overall contention that, aside from price, there's no reason to shop online isn't. Yes, the ability to easily source bargains online is a key reason shoppers buy online rather than in a store. But there's also the fact that because of the relatively low cost of entry for setting up a web store, speciality merchants abound. You want to teach yourself Estonian? Chances are you won't find a book or tapes at your local Waterstone's, but you will at HeartofEurope.co.uk. Searching for a Marimekko Unikko cushion? M&S won't have it, but DesignShopUK.com and Sheerhome.co.uk and FinnesseLifestyle.com do. There are two other reasons to shop online that are overlooked. One is the sheer convenience. Maybe some websites aren't that easy to navigate and order from. But for those who only find the time to shop at 9:30 in the evening when the kids are finally in bed or at 2 in the morning because of shift work, the convenience of ecommerce is unbeatable. Then there's what I call the misanthropic factor. Some of us simply don't want to smile and nod at a salesperson or chat to an order taker if we don't have to. And thanks to the web, we don't have to.