Research reveals registration processes also likely to make customers abandon online orders

Research reveals registration processes also likely to make customers abandon online orders

Hidden charges at the checkout are the most likely thing to lead to online shoppers abandoning purchases and many would also be put off by being forced to register before buying, according to new findings released today.

The e-commerce drop-off poll, carried out by user experience consultancy, Webcredible, revealed that 41% of online shoppers would abandon an online basket if faced with hidden charges at the checkout, while 29% claimed that being forced to register to make a purchase would make them drop out of a purchase.

Cost-consciousness prevails

The results very much reflect current concerns surrounding the economy with customers put off by extra costs that they feel are unjustified and weren’t explained at the outset of the purchasing process.

Online security and privacy is also clearly a concern with online shoppers also deterred by having to submit details that they feel are unnecessary, to make a purchase. The results also revealed that other reasons customers abandoned online purchases were a lengthy checkout process, no clear delivery details and not having a phone number provided on the website.

Clarity about charges upfront

The research polled more than 1,200 online users between March and May 2010 on why they would abandon an order when shopping online. Just over one in ten (11%) of respondents said they would abandon an order because there were no clear delivery details, 10% stated a lengthy checkout process would be the reason they’d drop-off and 8% were put off by having no phone number provided.

Trenton Moss, director at Webcredible commented: “Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding online and with the online shopping sector becoming more and more competitive, companies must realise that the slightest unexpected process or charge can lead to a user dropping-off and going to a competitor’s site. Many of the reasons identified for abandoning an online purchase can be rectified through following basic usability guidelines, and ecommerce sites must ensure their buying process is as closely aligned to user-needs as possible, or they risk losing sales to competitors.”