While online shopping offers many conveniences, those conveniences come with plenty of annoyances. Companies that let customers buy products or services through their e-commerce merchant services websites need to know what annoys shoppers and address as many of them as possible.
Whether you have a high-risk merchant account or a traditional arrangement with a credit card processor, you can increase sales by making the online shopping experience more pleasant for your customers. Learn more about these common irritations and how you can fix frustration-inducing issues on your website.
Customers Must Sort Through Many Items Before They Find What They Want
Many consumers choose to shop online because they want a broader choice of products than what they can find at brick-and-mortar-stores. However, too many options may overwhelm users, prompting them to get sidetracked or bored while they work through their indecisiveness.
To address this problem, businesses can enable customers to narrow their search results using various attributes. For example, if you sell kitchen faucets, let shoppers narrow the products they review based on height, finish, installation configurations, and availability of soap dispensers.
Website Users Must Share Their Email Addresses Before They Can Shop
Imagine how irritated you’d feel if you walked up to a store and met a clerk who demanded your email address before you could enter. Requiring online shoppers to give their email addresses before they can browse your website is equally frustrating.
Give customers the option to sign up for deals, but don’t force the issue. You can build custom features into your site so that every page includes the opportunity to register to receive communications. Going beyond this friendly reminder may alienate shoppers.
Retailers Require Accounts to Complete Online Purchases
Some buyers find it off-putting to set up accounts with online retailers. Instead, they prefer to check out as guests. If you don’t allow consumers to shop as guests, you risk having them bail during checkout. Offering a guest checkout is one way to combat shopping cart abandonment.
Final Purchase Amount Displays After Entering Payment Information
Most customers prefer to know the total cost of their purchases, including taxes and shipping, up front. Displaying the final purchase amount early in the buying cycle is one way to prevent customers from getting unpleasant, annoying surprises after they enter their credit card information. If customers decide these last-minute updates to their purchase prices are too high, they may be frustrated enough to leave your site without completing their purchases.
Customers Get Too Many Emails After Their Purchases
Buying something online should not start a flurry of marketing emails. Repeatedly sending surveys, discounts, share-with-a-friend offers, and sales notices will only annoy your customers, not make them more loyal to your business. Instead, opt for high-value email marketing tactics targeted to each customer’s buying habits. For example, send a discount offer on future purchases to someone who has bought an item that is disposable.
Companies with a high-risk merchant account can drive their sales higher if they proactively work to reduce aspects of the online shopping experience that irritate customers.
