When the rather popular adage “shoppers’ paradise” is mentioned, one tends to think of a city: a place where shopping is limitless, easy and affordable. If we could twist that perception a little bit, we would find that this does not necessarily have to be a reference to a city. Have you ever considered the Internet as the ultimate shopper’s paradise? Come to think of it, anything a shopper would want to buy is present on the Internet. You can browse through products and features without even stepping out of your house. The conveniences and the possibilities are limitless.
Having said this, however, retail site owners must be aware that it is not all a happy story. There is plenty about online shopping that shoppers find irritating, suspicious or difficult. This goes to say that retail site owners cannot rely merely on the fact that shopping online is a convenient way of purchasing goods and services. Things have to be put into place by the site owners to ensure that the shopping experience is, indeed, smooth and trouble free.
There are, without a doubt, a number of factors that keep consumers away from online shopping. Perhaps the biggest setback that online shopping faces is the problem and fear of fraud. Depending on the nature and familiarity of the shopper with the Internet, it might be easy or difficult to convince them about the safety of shopping online. The problem of fraud might actually be easier to tackle than the fear of fraud. Though the fear of fraud is decreasing because shoppers are getting more accustomed to shopping online, each retail site has to do their individual bit when it comes to ensuring that shoppers trust the safety of that site.
One big difference between online and traditional shopping is that it becomes quite difficult to return things online. This is a big concern that shoppers have when they buy something online. As for traditional shopping, you can walk back into the store where you bought it with your receipt and work out your issues with the salespeople in the shop.
Retail site owners should always keep in mind that online shoppers are transitioning from traditional shoppers and they expect the experience of buying good and services online and offline to be similar. Years of experience have made customers comfortable with walking into a store, choosing a product and paying for it at the check out. Customers are mentally set to go through a similar process when buying online and altering that process might make it extremely confusing for shoppers.
A setback that the Internet most probably cannot overcome is the fact that it’s all just virtual reality of sorts. So instead of actually seeing the product, consumers can see only a graphic the product and read up on product features. It is up to the site to fill in the gap in information. Retail sites do not have live sales people to promote the product or to answer queries and concerns from shoppers. As much information as is needed should be provided in addition to answers to any probable questions. Consumers are at times disappointed to find that even though they might find a product they want to buy there just isn’t enough information for them to make a final purchase decision. These gaps in information, if not mended quickly, can prove to be a big blow to the site.
Then there is the classic mistrust that they might have that products purchased online will not actually reach the customer. That accompanied by the apprehension that getting their money back from the site is not an easy process might hold some shoppers from buying things online.
The good news is that these are not unsolvable problems. The right kind of and the right amount of information on a site should work towards making shoppers more comfortable about giving you their personal information and money. It would be advisable to spend good time on writing out a clear and direct policy in addition to making the check out process as easy as possible.
Emulating traditional shopping online is definitely not an easy task. But there are quite a few things that retail site owners can learn from traditional shopping methods. These are the basic requirements that shoppers look for when spending their money. Giving them that, and much more, should be your priority, if indeed you plan on reaping results from online shopping.
About the Author:Jeev Trika is a principal at azentec, Inc.,. an e-business consulting firm, based out of South Bend, Indiana. He possesses extensive experience in sales methodologies and holds over 9 years of experience in assisting organizations with their online experiences. His professional services have been garnered by organizations like IBM Global Services, Siebel, Jordan Industries, Cayman Islands Government, and more. Jeev holds a Bachelors in Computer Science and an MBA, both from Purdue University.
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