Consumer concerns stall online orders

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 09:43 by Graham Miller

A study from PushOn has shown that plenty of Brits put off making a purchase online because they are not entirely confident in the available e-commerce sites.

Almost a quarter of respondents said that they wait up to six months before committing to an online order as a result of various uncertainties, including wanting to see products in person rather than only looking at images and info on a retail site.

Seventy nine per cent of those questioned said that they had actually used the web to search for product details and look up reviews, then headed to a bricks and mortar outlet to actually buy it because of this lack of confidence in e-commerce.

Seventy per cent said that they also did the opposite - checking out expensive items at a store, then using the internet to get a good deal.

This latter trend is known as showrooming, and is well established. But the fact that online retailers are still not seen as being entirely trustworthy is definitely a problem for the industry.

Buying high value items is still something that plenty of consumers prefer to do on the high street. Thirty nine per cent said that they would not spend more than £1000 in a single transaction made online, which is a ceiling that retailers will need to break by improving trust.

Almost a fifth said that they were also put off because of the shipping costs that are typically associated with online shopping, even with many outlets offering free delivery for the most valuable products that they sell.

Even with the UK’s well developed e-commerce industry, there are still many areas in which changes need to be made to win over cautious consumers and convince them that online stores can be trusted.