E-shopping: what is important to you?

[Alice.Lagarde]

Hi everyone,

I need your help today for my dissertation about e-shopping and consumer behaviour. I am trying to find out what factors influence consumers while shopping online.

This is why I need your own opinions.Add your comments and share your experiences. What do you think in general of e-shopping? What is attractive to you? What influence you to purchase or not online? Do you feel secured? Do you trust websites? Why, why not?

Every argument and point of view will be valuable for me so do not hesitate to share them!

Thanks a lot and looking forward to see your answers!

 

[Storage King]

I think the main factor to me when shopping online is price. With the internet I can easily and quickly find the item I want and compare prices.

However I do think a decent description and decent high res photo of the product is important too.

If I make a purchase I will always check the browser is secure first and I much prefer paying by PayPal as quicker than entering card details.

And I definitely prefer a website where I can checkout as a guest rather than have to register with them.

Delivery costs can sometimes put me off, for example if I'm looking to purchase something at £4.99 but the p & p is £4.95 then I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[Alice.Lagarde]

Thanks for your answer it is very helpful.

While checking all this details on a website, if you feel confused, do you base your decision depending on your own thoughts or is there some cultural, psychological, social or personal factors influencing you? (e.g. family, friends, culture, situation..)

 

[WolfStores]

Hi Alice,
To me ecommerce is the future. You can browse thousands of products online in the comfort of your own home and you can compare prices. You also save time and money. You do not waste cash in driving to a shop or using public transport.
How do you trust an ecommerce site?
Check if they have a phone number listed and a full address on the site. Give them a call to verify that they are trustworthy.
Look for the https in the URL (this means that the site has a valid SSL certificate).
Prefer to use PayPal when you pay online. If you do not receive the goods you can file a PayPal dispute and get your money back.
As a rule I would not buy from websites that are based in certain countries that do not have strict laws on ecommerce.

Hope to have been of help

 

[gibby]

Hi, very similar info as above, secure and plenty of info on products.
Secure payment is vital and thats why I dont like paypal.

As a store owner we had major complaints from customers when we used paypal. Usually several calls per day asking to pay by another method due to accounts that were locked/frozen etc.
Also when we tried to resolve issues or fraudulant orders Paypal were a nightmare to get a response from. Possibly this has changed as its a few years since we switched, but when we did our order levels jumped up.

G

 

[sophieperrone]

What factors influence consumers while shopping online?

• Well designed website
• Secure by SSL Certificate
• Customer support by live chat or phone
• Full product description. You may place product video or images
• Privacy policy

 

[Anastasiya]

I would say, the most important factors for me are: user-friendly website, ability to access the e-commerce site from the smartphone, minimum ads, lower prices comparing with the shops, different specials and discounts, free delivery, return policy, detailed product description with photos etc.


__________________________________________________

 

[antropy]

I think the infographic at this link will help with your dissertation:
http://www.getelastic.com/how-to-create-killer-product-pages-infographic/

Good luck!

 

[AnonymMoose]

Hi, very similar info as above, secure and plenty of info on products.
Secure payment is vital and thats why I dont like paypal.

As a store owner we had major complaints from customers when we used paypal. Usually several calls per day asking to pay by another method due to accounts that were locked/frozen etc.

G

PayPal offers guest checkout where you simply enter card details instead of logging in..

 

[AnonymMoose]

I can tell you what I look for when shopping myself and also implemented those on my e-commerce site:

- Guest checkout, I usually can't be bothered spending time to register on a site just to spend few pounds with them and probably never shop there again anyway

- PayPal, quick and easy, one password instead of looking for my card and entering all address details

- Good products description and quality photographs

- Lack of "in your face" selling and clean layout. I know what I'm looking for and therefore absolutely hate and avoid websites where I can't find the damn product among dozen of "hey, check this out too!" and floating social network boxes

- Privacy policy (no unsolicited emails in the future)

- Easy to find contact details, address and landline in case of any problems

 

[PrestonLad]

Hi Alice,
To me ecommerce is the future. You can browse thousands of products online in the comfort of your own home and you can compare prices. You also save time and money. You do not waste cash in driving to a shop or using public transport.
How do you trust an ecommerce site?
Check if they have a phone number listed and a full address on the site. Give them a call to verify that they are trustworthy.
Look for the https in the URL (this means that the site has a valid SSL certificate).
Prefer to use PayPal when you pay online. If you do not receive the goods you can file a PayPal dispute and get your money back.
As a rule I would not buy from websites that are based in certain countries that do not have strict laws on ecommerce.

Hope to have been of help

Wolfstores may or may not be right... but looking at his/her business, I'm not sure it's an unbiased opinion!

I wouldn't differ too much from others... I'd add 'good reviews' to the list of influencers.

Personally, I disagree that people are satisfied with how quick, easy and cheap that on-line shopping is... unless you're buying commodity products that don't need too much help with. Or more to the point, I'm not sure they'll remain satisfied as people get more conscious that it's often not ideal make on-line purchases of items you've not been able to touch, feel and physically compare against alternatives.

 

[SpeedaEcommerce]

Hi everyone,

I need your help today for my dissertation about e-shopping and consumer behaviour. I am trying to find out what factors influence consumers while shopping online.

This is why I need your own opinions.Add your comments and share your experiences. What do you think in general of e-shopping? What is attractive to you? What influence you to purchase or not online? Do you feel secured? Do you trust websites? Why, why not?

Every argument and point of view will be valuable for me so do not hesitate to share them!

Thanks a lot and looking forward to see your answers!

Online shoppers will trust websites with a quality design, easy navigation and competitive pricing. Before buying people tend to research the company through search engines, so attaining good reviews is important.

 

[justbought.it]

I consider delivery to be a very important factor.

In fact, I've even gone as far to call delivery eCommerce's Ugly Sister!

I think retailer resistance to adopt innovative delivery solutions is stunting eCommerce penetration.

 

[SpeedaEcommerce]

I consider delivery to be a very important factor.

In fact, I've even gone as far to call delivery

I think retailer resistance to adopt innovative delivery solutions is stunting eCommerce penetration.

Fast delivery will yield repeat customers.

 

[johnlaster]

Hi,

While online shopping the main thing which attract me is that I find the product easily for which I was looking.

The other thing is obviously the presentation of product like how they have presented the product and does it explain all features of product?

Third and last thing is obviously easy payment gateway. I always do shopping from the sites those provides multiple payment options so that I can easily pay and check out.

That's all what I look for in a website when I go for online shopping.

 

[14Steve14]

As a webstore owner my views on what a website reuires is not really a lot different from a customers.
Good product description and images
Competitive pricing
Ease of use
Easy to find additional information such as privacy policy and t&cs
Fast delivery at a sensible price

Thats about it. If you keep your customers happy they will come back and also recommend you to others.

 

[LetsSyncro]

In the business that we work with , we have found that the ability to showcase your items increases sales.
Small business has the ability to customize and personalize experiences in a way that big business cannot. That improves the eshopping experience. This is what my software provides and the focus of our business, LetsSyncro.

 

[GabbyGriffith]

Lengthy check-out processes turn me off. The more I have to fill in the more I get annoyed. Also I sometimes find it difficult to modify my basket, take items out, change shipping details etc. This is frustrating as well.
One thing that I really enjoy when shopping online is big, high res, clear imagery to go along with the products and the ability to look at them from different angles. The closer you can make me feel to the product the more likely I am to buy.

 

[paulyg]

I love shopping online. Nowadays I shop much more online than at brick and mortar stores.

It's attractive to me because it's convenient and allows me to shop worldwide from the comforts of my home.

Influencing factors would be price, reputation of the site and the user-friendliness of the site.

Hope this helps!

 

[PayPoint net]

Agree with all of the points above. Just adding in my two cents:

• If it seems to good to be true often it is - am very skeptical of websites offering amazing deals
• If it is a service I am purchasing I like to be assured that others have bought it and like it - whether that be customers reviews or testimonials from well known brands

Good luck with your study
Siobhan

 

[puresilva]

• first and foremost, the site must allow me to use a popular, recognised payment gateway. My credit card info is only as safe as the weakest security capturing it, therefore I only give my details to big branded gateways (although no system is invulnerable, you have to hedge your bets). If a site has "rolled their own" payment system I won't buy - SSL is meaningless as I don't know how they will actually STORE / handle my details. Encrypting transmission via SSL is just one small part of security. Also the biggest gateways should have some kind of customer protection policies in place (though always check)
• site should have their company address and phone number somewhere on the site (and not just a PO box address)
• transparent shipping / total costs; if a site loads on a whole load of costs just right at the very end of the payment process, I'm reluctant to buy anything
• painless payment process; I don't want to register to buy, be asked for a fax number (still happens sometimes in 2013) or how I found the site.

To be fair, I am finding things are getting easier as the years pass (from my shopping experience) - a lot of sites now don't require registration, they do give you a choice of payment gateways, and essentially tick all of the boxes above.

 

[bsummers]

One factor that influence me to shop online is the convenience it gives me, considering that I use my tablet to browse is a plus point; it's like my purchasing power is just on the tip of my finger through that thin slate on my palm.

 

[ruby1990]

The most inportant things are
1. The profuct should be genuine
2. The price should be less
3. Delivery should be on time.

 

[JMRidley]

What really puts me off buying online is underhand tactics from retailers. Like Next directory just about forcing me to sign up to receive their catalogue every year (for a price) and take on a credit account when I just want to buy one item and pay straight away. Try going through their checkout without accidently signing up to a credit account and catalogue to see what I mean. I had been warned about this before hand (I was just trying to buy some school trousers for my daughter), but even though I was watching out for this I still ended up with a credit account I didn't want. Or the lovely company I bought a digital picture frame from and ended up signing up to their £20 a month club deducted directly from my credit card which I didn't notice for 6 months because of course they didn't ever send me any information about this club or welcome me as a new member or anything else that might have alerted me to something hidden in their very very long terms and conditions. I would mention their name but they also have a habit of being very aggresive to any customer who objects to being completely fleeced! Unfortunately, I get the impression that this sort of thing is becoming more common - see this blog which is doing a good job of trying to raise awareness of this. http://alistapart.com/article/dark-patterns-deception-vs.-honesty-in-ui-design

 

[puresilva]

Try going through their checkout without accidently signing up to a credit account and catalogue to see what I mean.

JMRidley, I had something similar at PC World / Currys. I bought a laptop there, avoided all the warranty/anti-virus/cloud storage upsells that were being sold to me by the sales guy, got to the till and he says "I tell you what, I'll throw in 30 days free support". I said "OK, thanks, might as well"....to realise only when reading the small print of the form I was given ("you just need to sign here for the free support"), that payments of £8.50 would recur after the free month (no mention of this most pertinent of information from the sales guy). It's a desperate way to sell - to deliberately hold back information, and then depend on someone's oversight to make a sale.

 

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