Excessive Choice Leaves Online Shoppers in Limbo

Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - 15:58 by Paul Tissington

People who regularly carry out safe shopping online are likely to give up on a potential purchase if they feel like there are simply too many different options available to them.

This is according to the results of a survey from iAdvize which pinpointed an interesting conundrum which e-commerce retailers face when it comes to driving down cart abandonment rates.

While the sheer variety of products available online is often seen as a key benefit of this segment of the market, it is also apparently something which paralyses the indecisive shoppers who would be more likely to convert into paying customers if there was actually less choice - not more.

83 per cent of respondents to the report admitted that they had suffered from product option overload at one time or another, although this is far from the only thing which is holding back e-commerce sites.

58 per cent said that they would usually choose to avoid making a purchase if the site did not provide adequate information about the product in question.

55 per cent said that they did not feel empowered to make a decision when buying online, chiefly because they were not certain whether any choice they made would ultimately be the right one.

Half of those questioned said that they would be more likely to buy from a retailer if the site provided plenty of details about the product and gave accurate unbiased advice to help guide them. A similar proportion said that the same would apply if a given brand made efforts to woo them with comprehensive product information and support.

Ultimately, it seems like consumers in the UK are willing to buy online so long as they feel like they are being armed with all the relevant information they need to direct their decisions.