Five ways to improve your online shopping experience

(Not only but especially) In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, consumers are price conscious. Among six ranking factors for consumers when shopping online, respondents chose price as the most important, closely followed by shipping speed and convenience.

Consumers like to be informed every step of the way. Out of the seven order update types listed, 60 percent of those surveyed considered the most important update to be the order being out for delivery. The second most important update was considered an order confirmation (58%), while the third was notifications about order delays (51%).

From pressing the “buy” button to delivery, email updates are the consumers’ clear favorite – with 45 percent saying this is their preferred method of communications, followed by updates via text message (29%). Although these preferences vary by region – see the full report for more details.

Two-thirds of survey respondents have experienced at least one delay in the last six months. However, a little over a third of respondents did not even receive information on why it was delayed. While 83 percent said they find it important to be compensated, almost 40 percent of respondents had not received any compensation.

However, the impact of shipping delays goes beyond inconveniencing the consumer: bad word of mouth, bad reviews, complaints, no repeat custom:

• 30 percent would tell family about their negative experiences during the delay and discourage them from buying from this retailer.
• 27 percent would call/email the business to make a complaint.
• 15 percent would leave a negative review on their or the business’ social media pages, while 14 percent would do so on the business’ website. 
• Almost 20 percent would decide to never order from the business again.

For 85 percent of survey respondents, the appearance of the box, how items are packaged inside it, what extras are included and if sustainable materials are used are all important.

The majority (61%) also say that the seller is responsible for the inside of the package and how well items are wrapped. Why does this matter? Poor package presentation affects their opinion of a seller say 30 percent of respondents, with another 24 percent saying that even damaged external packaging affects their opinion of a seller – a reason to choose your carriers wisely.

The choice of return options when deciding where to shop online matters to 87 percent of surveyed consumers. When it comes to how to request a return, an email to the seller (30%) or a prepaid shipping label (29%) are the preferred options.

It also pays to provide the most convenient options for the customer to return a parcel. For almost half of survey respondents (48%), it’s easiest to take a return parcel to a delivery carrier drop-off point, although 29 percent stated pick up from home or work as their preferred option.