Commentary

The deterrents hurting online retail

Ohad Hagai, senior vice president, marketing, at Namogoo, offers insight on a recent Namogoo survey regarding the many distractions competing for retail customers' attention.

Photo by iStock.com

October 17, 2018

By Ohad Hagai, senior vice president, marketing, Namogoo

If you shop online, chances are you've done so while doing some other task simultaneously. Whether you were browsing for deals on Prime Day in between meetings at work or shopping for a new handbag while hanging out with your family, we have become master multitaskers when it comes to shopping online. E-commerce has made our lives easier. We can buy things how we want, when we want to — no matter what we're doing. A true win-win for shoppers, but what about retailers?

For retailers, the carefully crafted online experience can get a bit murky as consumers choose to shop with distractions vying for their attention. These distractions can influence their attention and, ultimately, their purchase decisions. In an age where the customer experience is king, it's critical that retailers have insight into the things that may be competing for consumer attention during the shopping process – whether online or offline.

To shed some light on how consumers interact with brands while shopping online, Namogoo recently surveyed over 1,300 online shoppers to unveil what they're doing while they are shopping online. We learned there are many distractions competing for customers' attention, some of which are turning them away from completing purchases.

Multitasking shoppers

If attracting customers to an eCommerce site isn't hard enough, it is evident that the majority of shoppers are dealing with outside distractions as they browse your site — distractions that are out of retailers' control, but that they should be aware of. For example, 57 percent of consumers make purchases while at work, and 51 percent shop online while doing household chores.

Whether they're knee-deep in PowerPoint or cleaning the house, today's consumers aren't typically focused exclusively on a retailer's site as they browse — all the more reason for brands to make sure their online customer experience is optimized, engaging and as seamless as possible. Even though an outside distraction — such as the boss circling your workstation or a child throwing a tantrum — may be the reason a customer doesn't convert, this should reinforce the significant need for brands to consistently deliver an optimal online journey for their customers.

Fees and repetition = abandoned carts

In addition to offline aspects that distract customers, there are also distractors retailers can control that ultimately lead shoppers to abandon their cart or view the retailer in a negative light. For starters, retailers should try to limit add-on costs, as 77 percent of shoppers surveyed cited shipping and other extra fees as one of the main reasons they abandon their online shopping carts. In addition, having to enter the same information more than once really frustrates customers on both desktop and mobile — as 53 and 63 percent (respectively) note that repetitive information sharing is a top frustration during the checkout process.

Injected advertisements lead to lost customers

While shopping online, many customers are exposed to unauthorized, injected pop-ups and banner advertisements that come about because of malware unintentionally installed on their devices. While a retailer has no idea this is happening since the ads are running locally on a consumer's browser, the ads typically promote similar items from competitors to lure shoppers away, in turn damaging conversions and brand equity. The phenomenon is known as Online Journey Hijacking and it can truly impact how consumers view a brand.

In fact, 78 percent of shoppers exposed to these injected ads while shopping online said they view that retailer in a negative way as a result since they believe these ads are being served by the brand and not the result of malware. Furthermore, most injected advertisements deter consumers from making the purchase they intended, as they typically display competing product offers on other sites. The survey revealed that 80 percent of consumers who would buy a product from the site they were lured to also said they would return to that same site in the future, specifically if that business offered the same product at a better price. For this reason alone, it's pivotal that eCommerce businesses understand the enormous impact that Online Journey Hijacking can have on a brand if not proactively addressed.

The bottom line? Control what you can

No matter how optimal the customer journey is, there are always going to be factors (both online and offline) that deter shoppers from making purchases. However, it is up to the retailer to address the aspects they can control to make shopping on their site as seamless as plucking an item off the shelf in a retail store. The global e-commerce boom isn't a bubble — digital shopping is here to stay. Retailers need to be doing all they can to delight customers and deliver the experience they want and expect — free of unwanted distractions.