Consumers Sound Off On Online Shopping Frustrations: Survey
Nearly one quarter of consumers said purchased items having no resemblance to their image on the Internet as their biggest online shopping frustration. A similar amount indicated the inability to speak to a customer service representative at an online store to address any purchasing questions or concerns was their top headache.
Among a sample of 1,092 respondents, 90% shop online, with more than one-fifth making a purchase. Women, consumers 25-44 years old, residents in the Northeast and households with incomes of $75K or more were the most likely to make purchases, according to the latest Ouch Point survey from Opinion Research Corp., an infoUSA company.
While Amazon.com was named the company offering the best online shopping experience by more than one-quarter of online shoppers, 21% could not identify a top candidate.
“This suggests that there is ample opportunity to create competitive differentiation and to establish best practice in the online shopping space,” said Linda Shea, SVP and Global Managing Director of Customer Strategies at Opinion Research Corporation US, in a statement.
Shea added, “Failing to meet customers’ expectations at any point along the buying continuum – from login to receipt of item – can have an adverse impact on the customer’s perception of not only the store, but the brand as well”.
In addition to the above-mentioned frustrations, the survey also found:
* 19% dislike learning an item was backordered or out of stock after said item was placed in a shopping cart;
* 14% are frustrated by Web sites that malfunction as payment is being processed;
* 8% are confounded by unclear return policies;
* 6% don
