Slick checkout experience desired by e-commerce fans

Friday, November 4, 2011 - 12:19 by David Aiken

UK consumers who love safe shopping online are always on the lookout for e-commerce sites which offer faster ways to pass through the virtual checkout, according to a new study commissioned by Postcode Anywhere.

A thousand people took part in the report and it found that more than 75 per cent of respondents see the checkout experience as key to their enjoyment of online shopping.

Just under 50 per cent of those questioned said that they had often abandoned a session of safe shopping online, if it took them too long to fill out their details on a retailer's site.

Sixty-seven per cent of consumers look out for sites which have checkouts that automatically fill in their billing address based on their postcode.

Spokesperson, Guy Mucklow, explained that consumers are clearly looking for smooth, fast and easy- to-use checkout systems on modern e-commerce sites and shunning those which do not meet expectations.

Mr Mucklow said that sites which require you to manually fill out all of your information can double the amount of time you spend on the checkout page. When compared with the ease of tapping in your PIN on the high street, it is clear why many consumers simply give up at this point and look for services which are less complicated and time-consuming.

E-commerce companies are always concerned about conversion rates, but Mr Mucklow said that they need to invest less on getting people to visit the site and more on making sure that people actually part with their cash once they are there.

Because the online market is so competitive, it is vital for smaller companies to streamline the checkout process, according to expert, Phil Rothwell.

Consumers are more likely to turn to established retailers if the niche sites they visit do not match up to their expectations at the checkout.