DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY SHOPPERS LEAVE YOUR INTERNET SITE?

A recent report by Anne Holland asks the question: Why do more than 90% of the consumers who visit an e-commerce site leave without purchasing?”

The results were: 41% did not like the return or exchange policy of the site, 14% left a site because they thought it was too complicated, 49% were worried about Fraud and identity theft and 53% were turned off by the threat of their personal information being shared.

“Marketers tend to attack the problem by tweaking creative -- copy, design, merchandising, offers -- and/or by data analysis, reviewing piles of charts, spreadsheets, and path analysis reports. Both tactics work, and work best in unison. But I feel they display the Achilles heel of marketers -- our inherent shyness,” said Holland.

“More-experienced shoppers tend to be less fearful about possible problems. As average shoppers in turn become more experienced, we can expect a matching rise in conversion rates. While I often see general guarantee copy and credit-card security information within the check-out process, I rarely see merchants including reassuring blurbs on their easy returns/refunds policy.”

Then why not run your own abandonment survey? Ask shoppers who bailed why? Getting closer to the customer is always worthwhile.”

Anne Holland is president of MarketingSherpa, a research firm.