Research from content management system provider Storyblok indicated that poor website design is a huge liability for online retailers.
In a poll of 6,000 consumers across the United States and Europe, 60% of respondents said they abandon purchases due to poor user experience on websites. E-commerce companies are losing an average of five purchases a year per shopper to poor design, with 8% of consumers abandoning more than 10 purchases, Storyblok stated.
When asked about their main reasons for leaving e-commerce websites, 37% gave limited payment options as the culprit, along with poor navigation or layout, at 37%, and slow loading speeds, at 33%. Still, 60% of respondents said that e-commerce sites are getting better, with only 5% saying they are getting worse.
Features and additional functionality on websites are far less important to consumers than ease of navigation, fast loading speeds and simple design.
Some cultural differences did emerge, with 42% of Americans saying that on at least one occasion they have been too embarrassed to say where they had purchased a product because the website was so poorly designed versus 18% of Europeans.
Storyblok also asked online shoppers whether virtual or augmented reality experiences would encourage them to purchase, with 42% saying yes — and the proportion rising to 57% for Americans — 37% saying no, and 21% saying they were unsure.
Recommendations from friends and family, cited by 56% of respondents, tend to be the biggest influence on purchasing decisions. Social media turned out to be more influential for Americans than Europeans as 48% of online shoppers in the U.S. said seeing a product on social media was an important purchase factor versus 35% in Europe. Marketing emails and online ads had less influence, according to Storyblok.
Despite economic uncertainty, 23% of respondents said they planned to make more Christmas purchases online this year versus 2021, with 13% intending to make fewer. Of those saying they would make fewer purchases, Storyblok maintained, 19% listed supply chain or delivery issues as their main concern while 18% said they preferred the in-store experience.
In announcing the survey results, Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok said, “Consumers want easy-to-navigate, intuitively designed, and fast-loading websites. However, a lot of e-commerce websites are falling short. Five purchases per shopper in missed sales may not seem like a lot, but when you scale this up to the number of potential new customers businesses are missing out on, it becomes a very significant amount of money. Additional functionality is still an important factor in attracting customers, but it’s critical to get the basics right first. For example, by investing in a headless, composable commerce tech infrastructure, companies can set the foundation for a great, fast-performing user experience.”
