Nearly 9 Out of 10 Online Buyers in the U.K. Experience Transaction Problems

Despite the increasing maturity of the ecommerce sector a new study published today reveals that nearly 9 out of 10 (86%) British consumers who have conducted transactions online in the past year have experienced problems completing transactions.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive®, and commissioned by Tealeaf®, a management software provider, highlighted an unforgiving attitude towards online stores, with 37% of those who have experienced problems when conducting an online transaction in the last 12 months saying they would abandon their transaction entirely if they experienced a problem.

According to the survey, consumer intolerance of an online experience is exacerbated by poor customer support from contact centres when people seek to rectify the problems they encounter. 43% of adults who experience transaction problems contact customer service centres and yet, worryingly, only 47% of these felt that this resolved their issue. Ultimately, 40% of British consumers who experienced bad customer service from a company’s contact centre following an online issue stopped doing business with the company altogether.

“After a decade of ecommerce, British consumers have very high expectations of their online experiences, yet many companies doing business online are still failing to deliver an acceptable level of customer experience and service to internet customers. Online businesses must pay attention to their customers’ experiences and help them to succeed, or risk losing them and their business entirely,” said Rebecca Ward, CEO, Tealeaf. “The only way to understand and pinpoint problems, improve conversion rates and better serve customers is to have visibility into everything that happens on your online channel.”

“The lack of face-to-face contact is an obvious disadvantage online, but customers must feel as though they are valued and that their issues are understood, processed and, ultimately, solved. Businesses need to pay the same consideration to the experience of each and every online customer, just as they would in a physical shop or via a call centre, and to achieve this they require a clear picture of where their websites work and where they fall short. Only then will they be able to take steps to improve the service they deliver to their online customers,” said Ward.

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