Abandoned Basket Sites A Big Xmas Problem!

Xmas shopping figures flying thick and fast – as were website visitors who fled in their droves as they experienced problems with making a purchase at over a third of UK sites, where it seems very little had changed in usability or customer engagement.

According to a YouGov survey commissioned by Online Customer Experience Management (CEM) specialist Tealeaf, it appears that there are still an overwhelming number of domains with original website design issues that caused inbound visitor traffic to abandon their basket, thereby losing valuable sales and the likelihood of a return visit.

With Xmas sales reaching £2.8bn, as over 2 in 5 (44 per cent) of the UK’s online adult population increased their online spending, an almost identical percentage of 45 per cent encountered online issues with purchasing or the checkout process, leading to almost a third (32 per cent) abandoning their site transactions entirely.

The presence of so many problem websites is clearly still a big issue affecting potential customer engagement in the age of ‘social, mobile and tablet’. Clearly the message is not getting through to the many site owners who believe their niche market is somehow unaffected by a changing web environment and are failing to adapt their online marketing, website accessibility, navigation and checkout processes to reflect today’s immediate, interactive ‘search and use’ expectations.

The Tealeaf/YouGov survey of 300,000+ individuals with a total sample size of 2,122 adults aged 18+ undertaken between 27th and 29th December 2010 revealed that website problems and errors were a ‘key area of customer struggle’, causing 13 per cent, or 5.3 million online consumers, to abandon their purchases.

In addition, nearly half of those surveyed said they would be less likely to return to the website if they experienced a problem. The growing importance of social media and the sharing of online experience was reflected by nearly a fifth of respondents, of whom over a third ( 34 per cent) stating they would not purchase from a site with a negative reputation.

Irrespective of PPC campaigns, online trust, credibility and community are key denominators in today’s organic, social web. Visitor experience can be quickly communicated by Twitter, Facebook, blogs and forums and other community networks, affecting site traffic and PageRank.

Website owners are still literally putting obstacles in the way of successful customer transactions. Unattended website errors and complicated checkout processes not only reduce eCommerce revenues, they damage consumer trust and brand identity, at a time when the economic climate would suggest that site owners should relook at their ‘customer experience’ strategies and seriously consider a website refresh to come up to date to present user expectations.