How online shopping is inconvenient.
Contrary to what most people believe about the convenience of e-commerce, online shopping also comes with disadvantages that most customers notice. It may be smooth for those who subscribe to premium e-commerce services like Amazon Prime, but for most who rely on regular online shopping accounts, it can be frustrating to experience delays, fraud, or unresponsive customer service.
In this article, we will talk about some inconveniences customers experience online and how stores are addressing these issues.
1. Fraudulent Merchants. It can be infuriating to realize that the product you ordered will not appear on your doorstep. Ever. Scammers are everywhere, posing as legitimate stores and profiting from fraudulent transactions. It’s not just consumers who are affected by these fraudulent merchants but also the stores who conduct honest commerce on the internet. Consumers’ trust is affected by the shenanigans and consequently, consumers are hesitant to buy online.
What do honest stores do to regain customer trust? There are steps stores can take to win customers’ trust. Transparency between stores and customers makes a difference. Open communication is key. Customers who feel that someone is at their service anytime will most likely trust the store. Furthermore, online reviews will encourage other shoppers to continue with their transaction.
2. Inability to closely examine the product. Product images can sometimes be misleading. Size, color, appearance in real life may not be the same as the digital image. Unlike physical stores where the customers can closely examine the product, online stores only offer a picture or two alongside the product description. We have all heard stories and seen pictures of those fails: the difference between the expected and the actual product is sometimes staggering.
What are online stores doing to assure customers of product quality? Some stores offer pre-recorded videos of the items that they are selling, panoramic images, and animation. This helps customers explore the product virtually. However, the images, animations, and videos are often enhanced to show the product in all it’s glory, sometimes misrepresenting reality to various degrees. On the other hand, with the rise of video commerce, the live video stream has become a better, more honest outlet to showcase goods. Live video offers real images and can be examined closely with the help of a sales representative.
3. Delay in delivery and difficulty in returning or exchanging items. Online stores sometimes accept more orders than they can process and ship on time. Companies do this to compensate for profits lost on free or discounted shipping. The more items there are to ship at once the cheaper the cost, thus the orders get compiled resulting in shipping delays. That strategy is not always beneficial for customers. Orders may arrive later than expected, and exchanges of returned items may take weeks to complete. It can be a big inconvenience for those who choose online shopping for convenience.
What are stores doing to help customers get their shipments/returns faster? For companies that have a physical location alongside their online stores, store pickup is oftentimes offered. For some established e-commerce sites such as Amazon, a faster delivery service is available at a premium. Likewise, returns and exchanges can be done in the same manner: in-store returns and courier pickups for those who can’t visit the actual stores.
4. Lack of interactivity in online shopping. When an online shopper has a question or needs a consultation there are a few options: chat, email, or phone call. Many choose the live chat but that only works if someone is available to chat; otherwise, there is a high chance the chatting is done by a chatbot, not a human. That kind of online experience can be very frustrating. In physical stores, one’s request for help implies interaction with a live person, not a machine.
What are stores doing to engage and serve their online customers? Most stores employ live chat and phone assistants that customers can call if they need help. Some use chatbots and AI-assisted voice calls. Some use social media connected to their online stores to engage customers. However, there has been a lot of debate lately about the use of technology to engage customers online. Chatbots and AI voice calls are promising: they work for some who are able to invest generously into making them more human-like. Others who are stuck with generic chatbots that are only able to answer pre-programmed questions are left with frustrated and displeased customers.
Similarly, some stores use live video call features customers can use if they need help. The experience is like talking to a real sales representative inside a store. They can process orders, answer customer’s questions, tour around the store, and assist a customer with anything that he/she may need.
Like many new technologies, online shopping comes with disadvantages. Stores continue to adapt and implement solutions to improve their services. Customers have to do their due diligence to understand the store’s policies before purchasing a product to avoid any inconvenience. In the next article, we will talk about empty time on the sales floor and how stores can utilize idle time to bring in more customers.
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