With the rise of e-commerce, online shopping is the norm in the retail world today. And with this norm, comes its share of customer woes. Online shopping is convenient. But shopping for something without seeing it can bring its own problems. Let’s delve into the most common grievances raised by online shoppers.
Shipping issues
On top of the customer woes list is shipping. Quite a few shoppers find that the site delivers products later than the promised time. When a site says it will deliver in a day, the customer has every right to expect it within the stipulated time. The next shipping related issue is faulty or damaged goods. The customer opens his shipment expecting to find his purchase in the promised condition but finds that the product is damaged. Or, it is something else and not what he ordered. The last shipping related issue is that of lost shipment. Typically, shipping issues go up during the holiday season when shopping sites and shipping carriers handle extra pressure.
Late deliveries cause a huge damage to the brand reputation that your customers’ hold. Measures that ensure that your shipments reach on time include keeping a constant check on shipment tracking, regular shipping audit processes and claiming your refunds from your carrier regularly.
Shipping cost
Statistics claim that people are drawn to websites that offer free shipping. Anything else is a turn off for online shoppers. Even a nominal shipping cost tends to divert the customer to other sites that promise free shipping for the same product. An exorbitant shipping cost is unthinkable from the customer’s perspective.
Customer Service issues
When a customer tries to contact the website to understand why his purchase is yet to reach him, sometimes he gets unsatisfactory answers. Common problems here are: he is unable to find someone who’d take his call. His email does not get acknowledged. After having had enough with procrastination, he asks for a refund and that is denied. These are sure shot ways of losing customers.
Inventory issues
It is annoying to find that a website lists an out of stock product and then, 2 days after the date of purchase the customer gets a call saying the product is not available. This is especially problematic with drop shipping sites because the website does not know the real scenario of a wholesaler’s inventory. The shopping site suffers a dent to its reputation for the wholesaler’s inventory issues.
Complicated checkout process
A basic lesson in online shopping site building is to keep the process simple. No one likes to buy from a website that calls for filling a dozen forms. Today, even the not-so-net-savvy people want to buy online. To cater to the larger audience, make the shopping experience easy. And people don’t like it if a site forces them to register with the site in order to collect client details. They hate it even more if the website sends annoying mails to these people periodically.
Lack of Payment Options
Some shoppers do not feel comfortable using their credit cards, debit cards and bank details online. Websites lose business with this group of customers if they don’t offer payment-on-delivery. Also, customers stay away from sites that do not look genuine. No one wants to shop with a site that looks like potential phishing site.
