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The e-commerce arena is always evolving. Just like new opportunities emerge daily, new challenges arise as well. However, one of the main drawbacks of e-commerce that will never get obsolete is people leaving your online store.
Online businesses invest heavily in their marketing efforts to grab more visitors to their stores. However, the moment of truth arrives when these users abandon your store without completing their purchases.
We bet you have researched extensively to know why people leave your online store. Look no further; throughout this article, we will tell you ten reasons why people leave your online store with some tips and actions to deal with these issues.
Trust us; you don’t want to miss this.
Why People Leave Your Online Store Without Buying? 10 Reasons With Tips And Actions
- Expensive Additional Costs
- Complex And Lengthy Purchase Process
- Absence of Product Information
- Inconvenient Payment Options
- Security Issues
- Lack of Customer Support
- Non-availability of Clear Return And Exchange Policy
- No Testimonials And Feedback
- Long Website Load Time
- Unclear Navigation
We are pretty sure you are as curious as we are to know why online customers leave your online store. Therefore, in the upcoming paragraphs, we will tell you ten reasons, in addition to tips and actions to successfully deal with these issues.
1- Expensive Additional Costs
We have to tell you that online shoppers hate surprises (unless there are happy surprises, of course).
Therefore, unexpected additional costs that are surprisingly added to customers’ purchases are one of the primary reasons why people leave your online store. The most prominent is the shipping costs that are added at the checkout.
According to Oberlo (2022), expensive additional costs are the main reason users abandon their carts.
Tips: This reason is a trap for most online stores. Yet, dealing with it is quite simple. You have to be clear with your customers regarding any expected costs that will be added to their orders.
Any additional costs should be explicitly mentioned on the product page and not until the customer reaches the checkout page. In addition, don’t make customers look for the information as if you are hiding it. For example, show the different options for shipping costs so online shoppers can choose from.
2- Complex and Lengthy Purchase Process
It’s evident by now that online shoppers are constantly looking for a quick and easy purchase process. Therefore, if placing an order on your website is complex and lengthy, customers might have second thoughts about purchasing.
47% of buyers don't complete their orders due to the lengthy purchase process ( Webalive,2023)
Some websites force shoppers to register their information to complete a purchase. Trust us; this hinders the purchase process massively.
Online customers expect your store to gather the necessary data required to deliver the products. Thus, you should focus on making the purchase process as smooth as possible.
Tips: To get over such an issue, don’t force users to register on your website or app to place an order. Add the guest mode option so visitors can easily complete their purchases.
Test your website to assess the time needed to place an order. Accordingly, remove any unnecessary pages that customers will have to go through.
Finally, make sure to gather only the details necessary to deliver orders successfully; any further information makes them optional.
3- Absence Of Product Information
Image source: Shopify
Online shoppers rely on product descriptions, details, images, and videos to know everything about their desired product. Therefore, insufficient product information leads customers to leave your online store.
That makes sense, as people won’t buy blindly without knowing enough information. Hence, shoppers become more likely to leave your online store.
Tips: Mention all the needed product information to increase customer confidence to complete a purchase. This includes the material, specifications, origin, available colors, etc.
Also, images and videos can do wonders and can assist your website in overcoming such an issue. Accordingly, invest in high-quality images and videos to be added to your website to show product features from different angles.
4- Inconvenient Payment Options
Just imagine customers visiting your website and deciding to order but then realizing you don’t have a cash-on-delivery payment option.
This is a devastating scenario for any online store. It emerges from the presence of inconvenient payment options.
It is simple, yet it can cause people to leave your online store even though they aim to purchase.
Tips: Offer all the popular and available payment options to your customers. Therefore, you are giving shoppers the option to choose from a pool of payment options, the most convenient one.
Payment options vary from cash on delivery, credit cards, PayPal, Apple pay, and others. Therefore, include the most suitable payment options that appeal to your target audience.
5- Security Issues
Image source: uelzpay.com
With continuous technological advancements, people have started considering online fraud and its implications. Therefore, security issues raise people’s doubts and might lead them to leave your online store.
Security issues make people skeptical about adding their information or even payment details to place an order. Hence, this hinders the completion of online purchases.
Tips: To overcome this matter, you must increase your website's trustworthiness. Invest in the security of your website to prevent leakage of customers’ personal information. Add secure payment options while highlighting the privacy policies on your website.
In addition, you have to add trust badges and icons. Thus, contact reputable specialized companies like Trust Guard or McAfee to evaluate your online store and offer these trust badges.
6- Lack Of Customer Support
We always say that you have to be available at every step of your customer’s conversion funnel. So, if your customer has any inquiry throughout their journey, you have to be there.
Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, online shoppers can’t contact sales representatives to solve their issues. Therefore, your website’s lack of customer support frustrates customers and leads them to leave your online store.
Tips: The solution for this reason is quite simple. You have to add your contact details so customers can reach out whenever they have any questions or doubts that need to be dealt with. Also, don’t forget to make this information visible.
You can deal with such an issue perfectly by including a chatbot on your website. The chatbot will promptly reply to your customers while providing around-the-clock customer support, which is exactly what you need.
** Learn More About The Top 15 Cart Abandonment Reasons And The Best Tips To Solve Them
7- Non-availability Of Clear Returns And Exchange Policy
Image source: khaoscontrol.net
A study showed that 67% of customers check the return policy before purchasing (ShippyPro,2022). This study indicates that a clear return and exchange policy is integral to placing an order. It can easily make or break your e-commerce.
Therefore, the non-availability of a clear return and exchange policy is one of the major reasons that might lead users to leave your website without completing their purchase.
You may not like what we are going to say, but 54% of shoppers claim that free returns and exchange strongly influence their purchase decision ( Rich Panel,2023).
So, your return and exchange policy should be manifest to all of your shoppers, and it’s preferable to offer free returns and exchange to prevent people from leaving your online store.
Tips: Offer a seamless return and exchange policy to your customers. Preferably, give your shoppers free returns to encourage them to place an order and not leave your website.
8- No Testimonials And Feedback
Word-of-mouth marketing is when a brand encourages people to share their experience with a certain product or service; hence, people are encouraged to make future purchases.
Accordingly, word-of-mouth marketing creates a psychological phenomenon known as social proof. Social proof means that people seek others’ confirmation and tend to imitate others.
Therefore, if you ignore adding customers’ testimonials and feedback to your website, this might be a major reason people leave your online store.
Simply put, if no previous purchasers have positive feedback about your product, why would new shoppers risk their money?
Tips: Always highlight the trustworthiness of your online store. Increase people’s trust in your products to encourage them to place an order.
Make sure to gather customers’ feedback and testimonials as much as possible. You can rely on email marketing to gather customer feedback after purchases. It’s a winning tactic that will do wonders for your online store.
Start by checking out Converted.in. It’s a marketing automation tool that offers personalized email marketing tailored for each activity to guarantee a maximized ROI.
Don’t forget to showcase this positive feedback to build trust and prevent people from leaving your website.
9- Long Website Load Time
Image source: bootcamp.uxdesign.cc
An old quote once said that” Time is money.” Well, this quote was meaningful in the good old days. Yet, its cruciality is increasing.
Things are getting faster than ever, and people’s patience levels are constantly declining. So, there is no space for websites with long loading times, as users will simply leave your online store.
A study by Unbounce showed that 70% of users argue that page speed affects their purchase decisions.
Hence, even if you offer exceptional products with extraordinary customer support, a long website long time jeopardizes all of your efforts.
Tips: Analyze your page speed by using Google page speed insights. Accordingly, compress your files to less than 150 bytes. In addition, reduce unnecessary redirects as each redirect will increase user waiting time. Also, optimize your images while making sure that they have optimal size.
10- Unclear Navigation
If your navigation panel is all messed up, you are facing a huge issue that might lead people to leave your online store.
People just want to go through your website to know more about your products and offers and reach their cart smoothly. Therefore, if these aspects are missing, people will get confused and have nothing to do but leave your website.
Tips: Your website should be organized with clear product categories. In addition, you must have a clear navigation panel on your website so customers can easily locate their products.
Final Thoughts
We understand how devastating when people leave your online store without completing their purchase. Therefore, we have familiarized you with ten reasons people leave your online store.
So, there is no better time to start working on the missing aspects of your website to lessen the number of people leaving.
