9 Reasons Why Customers Are Not Buying More From You Online

Paypal recently conducted a survey which found that there are 9 top reasons why your customers are not buying more from you online:

High shipping charges: 46 percent
Wanted to comparison shop: 37 percent
Lack of money: 36 percent
Wanted to look for a coupon: 27 percent
Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
Couldn’t find preferred pay option: 24 percent
Item was unavailable at checkout: 23 percent
Couldn’t find customer support: 22 percent
Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent

Some of these things you cannot do anything about, like them having no money, but just window shopping. However, for some of the things, providing more information to your customers could be the key which boosts their online spending.

“Merchants who don’t welcome back abandoners with open arms are leaving hundreds of dollars per shopper on the table,” said Eddie Davis, senior director of SMB merchant services. “Merchants need to remember the items that customers abandon and make it easy for them to buy when they return. Sweetening the deal with free shipping, coupons and special discounts is also a great way to encourage online shoppers to complete their purchases.”

Here's a few things you can do to help:

1. Have better navigation on your web site, to make it much easier for customers to find what they need.

2. Make it easy for customers to find out how similar (or all products) compare with each other.

3. Don't hide shipping costs, but give customers an idea of how much shipping costs will be - right up front.

4. Provide multiple payment options (credit card, Paypal, Billmelater)

Some resources for you to consider include: Clickz, WilsonWeb and also my 10 Web Site Musts

Hear more from Eddie Davis in this interview:

tags: online sales , shopping cart , skype | 2 comments

Comments

#1 posted by Robin Pernice, July 21, 2009 2:58 PM

You said it...

a + Easy navigation
a + Have in stock what I put in my Cart
a + Shipping charges up front - before I enter CC and give me shipping options I can track

a + secure shopping carts
The only concern about payment for me is that it is a safe and secure cart. I look for Extended Validation SSL for all financial transactions now. The green URL bar, and also click on the certificate to review the expiration date.

I was using PayPal for the longest time since they were one of the first e-pay sites to adopt EV SSL but then eBay, Amazon etc. all jumped on the "safe train".. thank goodness.

#2 posted by Miles Technologies, August 19, 2009 11:04 AM

"Have better navigation on your web site, to make it much easier for customers to find what they need." - Excellent point! A website audit can help to determine how your site's navigation and other aspects can be improved. Miles Technologies offers website usability audits in order to identify ways to improve the overall effectiveness of your website.