Abandoned Basket Bombshell!

Less than transparent eCommerce tactics have been discovered to be a root cause of the one internet shopping behaviour that online business can ill afford as the UK economy continues the long struggle out of recession, shackled by new austerity measures.

There can be many reasons why your site visitor will suddenly click away to leave you puzzling over analytics and statistics to get to grips with the reasons why. Having invested much time, effort and budget into your online marketing campaigns designed to attract visitor traffic to your site looking for the object of their search, you cannot afford to see potential customers exit at a critical stage in the relationship process.

Maintaining ‘integrity of brand identity’ is crucial to attracting and keeping customers, who in turn will mention your site via social media networking channels. One false move and your reputation will likely be compromised – witness the current commotion recently stirred up around Facebook and privacy issues!

So what is causing online basket abandonment before a transaction is completed?

Hidden charges at the checkout !

Not only unexpected additional costs, but it also seems that many would be put off by being forced to register before buying!

A recent survey of more than 1,200 online users between March and May 2010 reveals that as many as 41 per cent of shoppers – that’s nearly half ! – would abandon an online basket if suddenly confronted with hidden charges at the checkout, while 29 per cent claimed that being forced to register to make a purchase would also be a strong reason to not continue with the process.

Current economic anxieties means customers are being put off by extra costs they feel are unjustified and, most importantly, were not fully explained at the start of the purchasing process. Online shoppers are also deterred by being asked to submit details that they feel are unnecessary to make a purchase, raising the issue of trust in site security and privacy.

Other factors influencing customers to abandon online purchases were a lengthy checkout process (10 per cent), no clear delivery details ( 11 per cent) and lack of a phone number provided on the website ( 8 per cent), the survey found.

As savvy and experienced online consumers become increasingly demanding in toughening, competitive times, companies must get to face the fact that a visitor will leave for the slightest, unexpected reason, not least, because of the bombshell of a hidden charge!

Online businesses and ecommerce sites must ensure transparency and abstain from actions likely to be viewed as underhand! The transaction process has to be open, user friendly, hassle free, as quick and easy as possible – or risk losing the sale in an economy where every sale counts !