Customer pain points cannot be cured with a pain relief spray! They are the inconveniences and frustration that a customer has to face while shopping online due to the loopholes present in the shopping portal of a business owner. eCommerce pain points can be anything that acts as a barrier and causes hindrance in a smooth purchase process.
Bridging the gap is the only solution that can ease such pain points for which every business owner should try to step in the shoes of the customers to find out what annoys a customer while shopping.
But what are the problems that a customer faces while shopping online that bring down the sale? Read on to get acquainted with a few customer pain points that need your undivided attention.
Lack of customer support
Do you know what’s more frustrating than a slow-loading website?
Poor or lack of customer support is one of best examples of customer pain points. In a recent study, it has been found that 86% of potential buyers are ready to pay more if they are provided with good customer support. Inefficient customer support can only land you down at a place where your customers start feeling annoyed and give up all their desires of shopping at your website, regardless of how good your products/services are.
Many people believe that a reliable and good customer support system is worth the quality and price of a product. Customers these days expect live chat support or customer executive support to get their queries solved. Also, they expect a 24×7 customer support system to get their problems sorted. In fact, more than 41% of customers tend shop at online stores where customer support is good enough.
Solution
There are many ways to improve customer support service. You can develop a multichannel strategy. It is about staying active on platforms where your customers are most likely to be available. You can also implement a scoring system to measure customer satisfaction. Likewise, help desk software and live chat support can also improve your customer support service.
Also, people who have been to your stores are prone to leave positive feedback for others to gain insight about what you are offering. As a result, offering high-end customer support and winning honest reviews in your portal can make other potential buyers feel confident while buying at your stores.
Wrong or inconsistent information about products
The world has witnessed a high rise in the number of ecommerce stores all these years, but lack of product information still remains a common customer pain point. Showcasing your products via high resolution photos isn’t enough. There is much more information that a customer needs than a few photographs that tell about the products from all sides to initiate a purchase.
To help your potential customers gain confidence in purchasing your products, it is the onus of the ecommerce store owner to be more transparent and informative. Lack of detailed information about the products often prevents customers from making a product purchase decision.
Solution
The description of products should be such that it highlights all the essential features that a customer is looking for and should be SEO-friendly. Also, adding images of the product being used can be helpful to trigger a purchase.
As a solution, you can also write down product descriptions and seek help from your friends or family members to read them out. After reading, if they come up with a question, there are chances your customer may also have the same questions in mind. Further, you can consider including those points in the description.
Slow-loading web pages and vauge exit process
Slow websites can kill conversions and prevent your customers from shopping at your store. It is said that websites that take more than 3 seconds to load can be a mood spoiler for customers. It can make them switch to some other website. Also, if the navigation between the pages is slow, again it becomes a reason for the users to turn their heads away.
More than 70% of customers do not return back to such stores that have slow loading speed. Additionally, even if your customers get what they want at your store but then come across a slow checkout process, most likely they will leave their cart abandoned.
A sluggish checkout process can be quite frustrating and most users are prone to make an escape in such circumstances.
Solution
For a seamless shopping experience, customers should be provided with a quick and easy-to-understand checkout process. Make sure that your eCommerce store is mobile-optimised because more and more people nowadays prefer using their smartphones for shopping.
You can also consider doing quick research on other websites that are doing great. You can check out their performance and speed.
Too few payment options
Even if you happen to pass through all these hurdles, one point where you can get stuck is not offering enough payment options to your customers. Your sales may witness a drastic decline and abandoned carts if you have restricted payment alternatives on your website.
These days’ payment alternatives are not just limited to credit cards and debit cards; there are numerous other options available. Ranging from cash on delivery, credit cards, debit cards, UPI Payments, digital wallets, and even cryptocurrencies, there is a long array of options that eases the purchase process.
Solution
An easy solution is to research all the possible payment options that are provided by different eCommerce stores and incorporate the same at your store as well. You can also conduct surveys and quick polls and ask your customers directly to leave behind their views for payment options and include the alternatives straightaway at your online store.
Make sure that you streamline the payment process so tha you don’t miss out on customers who just move out due to fewer payment options. Especially, if you have a global business and you have customers from different countries, they need to be more feasible alternatives.
Hidden fees
Hidden fees and shipping fees is one of the least talked examples of customer pain points. It can easily refrain your customers from making a purchase. When extra fees and surcharges are not clearly stated and it creeps up all of a sudden while making the payment, it turns into a big disappointment for your customers.
Every shopper has a right to know how much they will end up paying for the products. Any nasty add-ons during the checkout process can be a mood spoiler and can influence their buying decision.
Solution
Transparency is the key to such a situation. Your customer should be well aware of the total amount they are going to pay from the very beginning. Anything that pops up during the exit can be quite annoying.
Be it taxes, shipping fees, or surcharges, everything should be stated before the checkout page. Even if there is a minimum purchase to make the delivery free of shipping charges, the same should be constantly displayed on every webpage to educate your customers about the same.
Anything that is hidden leads to a bad impression and is the major cause behind card abandonments. Make sure that you make it very clear about any charges that will be levied extra on the products your customers tend to purchase.
Low or no social media engagement
Social media is a powerful tool these days and is loaded with opportunities for online business owners. Thus, it is imperative to have a social media presence to invite your audience to view your products, read reviews, and a lot more. Also, the content your post on such platforms should be relevant and updated timely.
Solution
As a solution, mark your presence on social media platforms and make sure that you have the right product information. Seeing an ad on a social media platform and clicking on the same just to find out that the product is not available or out of stock can be quite irritating. The advertisements should not be misleading and only accurate information about the products should be given.
Bottom line
Identifying the customer pain points is the essence of building a strong website that can fledge the customers with an easy-breezy shopping experience. By taking note of all the above-mentioned inconveniences that a customer faces and addressing them at the same time, you can pave your way for a successful business journey.
If you feel that your eCommerce store is lagging behind because of the pain points we discussed, it’s time to fix them via feasible solutions. When you keep your existing customers happy customers, they might bring a plethora of other customers to visit your store.