Online consumers experience problems checking out

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A new survey has found that almost nine out of 10 (86 per cent) of consumers in the UK have experienced problems at the online checkout stage in the last 12 months.

The findings are at odds with the ongoing growth of the e-commerce market, suggesting that online retailers still have some way to go to maximise internet shopping conversion rates and foster customer loyalty.

The research, conducted by independent market researcher Harris Interactive, also found that more than one third (37 per cent) of e-commerce visitors who have experienced problems conducting online transactions would abandon the transaction after experiencing problems.

This is despite the fact that 20 per cent of online customers feel that the ease of completing a transaction is the most important factor in a positive customer experience.

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of those who did have had problems conducting online transactions felt that the website was too difficult to navigate, where 29 per cent said they were unable to complete their purchase due to an "endless loop," for example.

Moreover, 40 per cent of those who have experienced transaction issues reported that they are more likely to question a company's ability to keep their private information secure, in spite of the fact that 32 per cent felt that website security was the most critical factor of a positive customer experience.

Although 43 per cent of the 2,118 UK adults surveyed who experience transaction problems contact customer service centres, only 47 per cent of these felt that this resolved their issue.

A further 40 per cent said they would abandon shopping with a retailer altogether after receiving poor customer service from a company's call centre when calling about website problems.

The survey also revealed that the vast majority (88 per cent) of adults were not willing to accept lower levels of customer service online than they would receive in person.

Rebecca Ward, chief executive of customer relationship management (CRM) vendor and survey sponsor Tealeaf, said: "After a decade of ecommerce, British consumers have very high expectations of their online experiences, yet many companies doing business online are still failing to deliver an acceptable level of customer experience and service to internet customers."

She added that the only way to understand and pinpoint problems, improve conversion rates and better serve customers is for retailers to have visibility into everything that happens on their online channel.

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