LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --
- Innovative Research Into How Consumers Purchase On-line Highlights the Ruthlessness With Which Web Shoppers Abandon a Purchase and the Signals That Secure a Sale
More consumers than ever before are going to be shopping on-line forValentine's Day presents so retailers need to make sure the purchasingexperience is a loving one and that surfers are not turned off by slowtechnology and hard to find delivery and returns information, says retailoperations specialists Envision Retail.
Its latest research into Internet shopping behaviour reveals that around75% of on-line shoppers will leave a site if a page does not download quicklyor is not available.
"Once on a site, if a page takes longer than 7 seconds to download, 57%of shoppers will leave immediately, with just 14% willing to try again,"explains Jason Kemp, managing director, Envision Retail. "On-line shoppersare ruthless - they will abandon a purchase at any stage in the process ifthey are irritated or can't find what they want, Sales are also lost if thereare not sufficient pictures or information about a product so that thecustomer can bond with the item. However, this is not an issue when it comesto a Valentine's Day gift as purchases are generally made for someone else.This means that the site needs to reassure lovers that if they get it wrong,a gift can be easily returned - and as many purchases are last minute,delivery dates need to be highlighted."
According to Kemp, there is a huge opportunity for retailers to makeextra money from on-line sales if they get the technology and presentationcorrect. He
calculates that by aligning the design of transactional web-sites withcustomer behaviour, there is an additional GBP134m worth of fashion salesalone to be captured in 2007.
Envision's on-line research complements its study of high street fashionshoppers and enables the company to enrich its insight into customer shoppingbehaviour, a key to driving higher sales.
As with high street retailing, on-line retailers need to understand thedifferent customers groups who enter their "shop", says Kemp. Envision'sresearch revealed six key groups - Time Killers, General Browsers, ProductGroupies and Focussed Fulfillers whose behaviour is parallel to high streetshoppers - plus two additional groups: Information Gatherers and Brand LoyalSurfers.
"Understanding the behaviour of these different customer types - bothin-store and on-line - will go a long way in helping retailers to adapt theirbusinesses and maximise sales and with Valentine's Day around the corner,they need to act fast," concludes Kemp.
Envision Retail's clients include Metro Group, Nike and Bon Marche.Envision Retail is a carbon neutral company.
Envision Retail
For further information, please contact: Linda Laderman@Laderman PR, Tel: +44-(0)7802-501913 or +44-(0)207-436-6676, Email: lindal@ladermanpr.co.uk
