There are many advantages for a business to have a web platform through which to offer its products and services. Despite this, and although the growth rate of e-commerce is positive , there are still certain barriers that prevent e-commerce from being fully exploited.
The reason for this situation can be summed up in one word: distrust. And while it is true that new technologies are already an active and integrated part of our daily lives, we must not forget that they are still a novelty for many cautious users.
The obstacles of e-commerce
Woman making a return
Fear of sharing personal data.
Consumers are very reluctant to share their personal data with merchants because, in order to register, more and more information is required. The obligation to share their address, their telephone number or even their national identity document data has become a factor that many consumers reject e-commerce. The distrust surrounding providing personal data is accentuated in the economic field and, according to data from the INE, in order for consumers to make purchases in e-commerce, payment gateways must be diverse. E-commerce consumers like to be able to decide which payment channel they are going to use, depending on which one they trust the most. The most commonly used are: credit card, PayPal, cash on delivery and bank transfer.
Refusal of shipping costs.
You go to an e-commerce site. You browse through all the available products, evaluate those that interest you and add them to your shopping cart. When you go to pay, you notice that the amount has changed, now increased by shipping costs. What do you think is the reaction of more than half of buyers? Yes, they abandon the purchase.
Shipping costs are often the reason why a potential buyer does not make an online purchase. This is because consumers do not like to see the price of their order increased for something so intangible, so experts recommend that products already include this cost in their initial price.
Problems with the distribution.
If you are a regular online shopper, you probably don't find it strange that this is one of the biggest handicaps of e-commerce. From the moment you receive the delivery notice until the delivery is made, a million things can happen, from having you wait at home for hours to finally being, without knowing exactly how, "absent". Offering a collection point or easier delivery facilities would be the way to avoid this problem.
Complicated returns.
Sometimes, return policies are so strict and require so much effort that they completely eliminate consumer satisfaction, and the result of this experience is often a refusal to make a new purchase. This is the case of those e-commerce sites that do not allow free returns, that require the original packaging to be kept, or that do not have a physical collection point. Removing this barrier is very simple and the benefits for companies are enormous.
Unattractive e-commerce.
In many cases, the barrier is an unattractive or difficult-to-navigate website . If it is difficult to find the product you are looking for or the images of the product do not show it clearly, the e-commerce will most likely fail. While having a navigable website is essential for SEO positioning, it is even more necessary for users to have a positive experience.
Poor adaptability to new mobile devices.
It may seem unbelievable at this point, however, there are many e-commerce sites that are not adapted to mobile phones. Considering the fact that most Internet consumers use their mobile device to access websites, the immediate need to adapt e-commerce to all devices seems obvious.
Distrust of the product.
The fear of receiving a completely different product than the one purchased is another barrier to e-commerce and is one of the reasons why many consumers prefer to buy in person. To prevent this from happening, you should offer as much information as possible about the product in question, with professional photos and even a section where buyers themselves can upload their photos and opinions. This will generate confidence in other consumers and encourage online shopping.
This mistrust has given rise to two phenomena that would not exist withou data nomor lebanon t new technologies: showrooming, which involves physically inspecting the product in a store and purchasing it online, and webrooming, which is exactly the opposite: the consumer obtains information online and purchases the product in a physical store.
Ecommerce delivery man
Considering the barriers that consumers encounter when making a purchase online, we can extract a series of keys to avoid these small obstacles. Some of them are:
Simplify registration processes or offer the option to purchase without registering.
Provide all possible payment channels so that consumers can choose the one that best suits their needs.
Eliminate shipping costs by including them in the total cost of the products so that the final sum is not increased and the consumer knows the money they are going to spend from the outset.
Work with professional delivery companies and have collection points in cities.
Have a clear and simple returns policy.
Offer an updated, organized website with quality images and a search engine.