12 online sales statistics that'll change your business

Topic: Retail

These statistics identify key areas in which retailers can do better, and we’ll dig into them later to highlight key action points. Here goes…
Number 1
The four biggest online shopping markets in the world will double in size over the course of the next three years
Number 2
British shoppers are the most likely in Europe to shop online rather than in store
Number 3
26% of consumers who prefer to shop in store do so because of payment security or privacy concerns associated with online shopping
Number 4
59% of UK online sales are now made via smartphones or tablets, ahead of the USA and Germany
Number 5
97% of transactions initiated on a mobile are abandoned, compared to 67.91% on a laptop or desktop computer
Number 6
Our attention span is falling fast: it was 12 seconds in 2000; by 2015, it had dropped to just 8 seconds
Number 7
83% of UK retailers now have a mobile optimised website, which is great, but…
Number 8
40% of consumers feel that the mobile experience of a retailer’s website could be improved
Number 9
46% of consumers have encountered difficulties when making online purchases
Number 10
The most common problems with online purchases are:

Deliveries arriving late (19%)

Products arriving faulty or damaged (13%)

Products not arriving at all (12%)

Products being left outside buyer’s home without permission (11%)

Number 11
23% of UK shoppers moved from one preferred brand to another last year, but the good news is that…
Number 12
81% of customers say that they will buy from a business again if they were satisfied with the experience.

What does this mean for your eCommerce website?

Consider using these statistics as an audit checklist for your website. Ask yourself (better still, ask impartial friends / family) if it appears trustworthy.
Good design plays a huge part in this, as does displaying trust symbols – security and payment service provider logos, awards and affiliations.

Esendex Trust Symbols

Example of trust symbols on the Esendex website

There’s a good chance your website is already mobile optimised, but if that just means that you’ve moved your existing content into a single column, that’s not going to cut it.
How many times have you used your mobile to search for a product, but not gone ahead with the purchase? When we’re on a mobile, we want to find and buy in the shortest possible sequence.
Consumers are too easily distracted for the immersive desktop experience to function correctly on a mobile. Have a look at Esendex’ Mobile Journeys to see just how simple you can make this if you choose.
Of course, desktop websites are also not immune to shopping cart abandonment, and we love the practical, easy to follow advice offered in this article to help address that.
In my next post we’ll look at after-sales, and what you can do to keep your customers coming back for more!
Sources:
OC&C Strategy Consultants | Centre for Retail Research | Office for National Statistics | eConsultancy | Time | Which? | SeeWhy | Kissmetrics

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