67% of e-commerce business are putting off customers with insufficient product images

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: 67% of e-commerce business are putting off customers with insufficient product images.

Online retailers are losing out on additional revenue by not utilising simple methods to capture sales from potential customers, new research has revealed.

A survey of 1,213 UK adults carried out by leading digital marketing agency, Marketingsignals.com, revealed that more than half (58%) of e-commerce businesses are putting off potential customers by making simple errors.

The research revealed the top ten reasons that deter potential customers from purchasing from a website. The primary reason was found to be insufficient or poor quality product imagery (61%), closely followed by inadequate product descriptions (57%).

The research also found that more than half (52%) of these businesses are failing potential customers with their lack of customer service, while 47% have overly intrusive discount pop ups on the home page, which can potentially detract users from making a purchase. 

The research further revealed that 43% of UK adults would be put off by websites that have an over complicated check-out process, while 41% would be deterred by an e-commerce business which has little or no social media presence.

A third (34%) of those questioned said that a lack of delivery options would deter them from from making an online purchase, whilst a website that wasn’t optimised for mobile devices would put off 27% of respondents.

Of those surveyed, a staggering 16% said they’d be put off from making a purchase if they couldn’t see company information or an ‘about us’ page. Completing the top ten reasons which deter users from making a purchase was customers who prefer to use alternative payment methods, with over one in ten (11%) saying that they’d seek to make their purchase elsewhere if a website did not accept the PayPal or Apple Pay.

Gareth Hoyle, managing director at Marketingsignals.com comments: “It’s clear from the research that many potential customers are being put off from making a purchase from websites they are not familiar with, which makes it so much more important for e-commerce businesses to make the checkout process as simple as possible in order for them to complete their transaction smoothly.

“In this social media age, it’s perhaps unsurprising that 41% of Brits would be put off from making a purchase from a website that is unfamiliar to them and doesn’t have a visible social media presence.

“Internet savvy consumers are always keen to spot a bargain, though can be put off by over complicated or seemingly untrustworthy websites when attempting to make a purchase, instead opting to buy from a site they already know and trust. So what this research demonstrates is that it’s clear that there are simple steps e-commerce businesses can take in order to improve conversion rates from first time visitors to their site.”

The top ten reasons that deter customers from making an e-commerce purchase:

1. Insufficient or poor quality product imagery - 61%
2. Inadequate product descriptions - 57%
3. Lack of customer service - 52%
4. Distracting/Intrusive pop ups - 47%
5. Over complicated check-out process - 43%
6. Little or no social media presence - 41%
7. Lack of delivery options - 34%
8. Desktop-only site design - 27%
9. Insufficient or lack of company information - 16%
10. Not accepting alternative payment methods including PayPal and Apple Pay - 11%