Is Your E-Commerce Costing You Customers?

I am an average consumer.

I like to shop at 7am over a cup of coffee…

Do so in my kitchen in my pajamas (which I would wear to business meetings if I thought I would still get business)…

Find great deals and coupons…

There are some sites I have been shopping at for a while. They have the cheapest deals on the items they carry (usually an online boutique that is very specialized) and a great selection. I have a comfort level with them and go back often. I can even sometimes find a coupon making their rock-bottom prices even better.

So why is it that I have to pull my hair out when I try to shop there. A recent experience was at one of these boutique online retailers. I am not going to give them the satisfaction of mentioning their name since all press is good press.

They recently overhauled their site. I’m sure it’s easier for them to track purchase, offer promotions, capture leads. But really. Do I have to suffer for the business to have a better experience? Can’t we have it both ways?

Not only was it hard for me to find where to actually purchase products. It was also hard for me to purchase them. I had to be sold on using the site first which insulted me as a returning customer.

I finally figured out how to buy from them and started *shopping*! =) I filled my cart, got excited when I found a coupon and then went to check out. Happy that I had also qualified for free shipping. It was a rocky start but in the end – well the middle – of my transaction, I was a happy, satisfied customer.

How quickly these things change back to frustration and annoyance.

I was asked to complete a new customer login since I had only ever shopped as a guest (my preferred way of shopping but now no longer an option). I even had to agree to their terms and conditions. I thought it was funny that a coffee company had terms and conditions but they were pretty boiler-plate.

So I agreed and hit “create my account”. All of a sudden, I was sent back to the home page and my cart was empty. Are you kidding? I had over $75 worth of coffee in my cart and now I am going to have to start over with my purchase from scratch. I back-arrowed to the cart screen and tried again…cart empty. I back-arrowed again figuring maybe I could just copy product codes from the list – no codes.

So now I am sitting here, almost out of coffee and not sure I want to buy it from the cheapest, best selection coffee company on the interent.

And the thing is, this is not unusual. Companies spend good money creating e-commerce that is clunky and user-unfriendly. And they are paying a LOT for these sub-par solutions. I guarantee they are not trying to create a bad user experience.

I was on newegg also earlier today. I hit “add to cart” and then “continue shopping” and was taken back to a featured product list instead of back to the list I was shopping from.

30% of consumers are using local content-driven web sites as the main way they learn about new products and services. Imagine how many customers you would have just by having an average online shopping experience for your customers. How about a GOOD shopping experience….

You would surpass most small to large companies vying for the consumer’s dollar and your bottom line would reward you handsomely for it.

What kind of experiences have you had shopping online? Help me make a “to do” list of how companies can improve their online shopping experience.

My list…

• Comparison Shopping
• Wish List
• Back to search after adding to the cart
• Clear and detailed photos of products
• Detailed descriptions with the consumer in mind and not just from the point of the manufacturer
• Coupons! and free shipping offers
• Good selection
• Clear and easy access to products and services

What other ways can we improve the shopping experience?