Consumers frustrated by sluggish shopping sites

Thursday, October 9, 2014 - 09:43 by Graham Miller

The number one reason for British consumers to become disillusioned with a website that offers safe shopping online is if it takes a long time to load and respond to interactions, according to a survey conducted by One Poll.

Fifty eight per cent of the 2,000 consumers questioned in the study said that a sluggish experience was the thing most likely to put them off using a particular e-commerce site. Just 15 per cent of those questioned said that they would turn to a shopping site as their first port of call when purchasing a product to use at home.

While the respondents may have expressed more willingness to shop on the high street than online, there is clearly a lot that retailers can do to improve the way that e-commerce sites work. Meanwhile, consumers need to keep in mind that certain factors beyond the control of retailers may have an adverse effect on their online experience.

Slow connection speeds during peak usage periods can bring the internet to a crawl, although the rollout of fibre optic broadband across the UK is helping to make it easier to carry out safe shopping online smoothly throughout the day. For those using smartphones to shop online while out and about, patchy network coverage and overburdened Wi-Fi hotspots can also contribute to a less than ideal m-commerce expedition.

Fifty two per cent of people who have a presence on social media said that they will choose to take advantage of offers and deals that retailers and brands provide to them through their channel of choice. Forty two per cent said that they enjoyed the instant nature of the engagement they received when contacting retailers and brands online, so while slow speeds may be an issue, there are some things that companies are getting right.