Research by enterprise CMS Storyblok has revealed the huge cost of poor website design to British ecommerce businesses.
6,000 consumers across the US and Europe, were asked about online shopping behaviour and their view on website functionality. 48% of UK consumers say they abandon purchases due to bad design and user experience. On average, these consumers estimate that these sales would have been worth a total of £50 – with 12% reporting they abandoned purchases worth more than £100.
With 58.8 million people in the UK shopping online spending £80.6 billion,* Storyblok estimates that the loss in purchases due to poor website functionality equates to £1.41 billion annually.
The main reasons for avoiding purchasing from a website included poor navigation or layout, slow loading speeds, pop-ups and uncompetitive prices. Those aged 18-25 cited cluttered or outdated design as their main reasons for leaving an ecommerce website and additional functionality (such as chatbots) as being one of the most important parts of the ecommerce experience. Whereas 72% of those aged 55+ chose ease of navigation and fast loading speeds as the most important factors. Older consumers also account for higher value abandoned purchases – averaging of £60.52 compared to £34 for those aged 18-25.
Dominik Angerer, the CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said: “Consumers want easy-to-navigate, intuitively designed, and fast-loading websites. However, a lot of e-commerce websites are falling short. Five purchases per shopper in missed sales may not seem like a lot, but when you scale this up to the number of potential new customers businesses are missing out on, it becomes a very significant amount of money.
“Additional functionality is still an important factor in attracting customers, but it’s critical to get the basics right first. For example, by investing in a headless, composable commerce tech infrastructure, companies can set the foundation for a great, fast-performing user experience.”
In positive news for UK ecommerce businesses, 19% of consumers said they would make more Christmas purchases online this year compared to last, only 11% said they would make less. The biggest reported increases in planned online purchases were recorded in Northern Ireland (41%) and Scotland (32%), with people in the East Midlands (24%) and Wales (16%) planning to make the biggest reductions.
Storyblok’s research also found that UK consumers, on average, make up their mind about staying or leaving a website in 15 seconds, compared to 19 seconds in the US and 18.5 seconds in Germany. 24% of UK consumers decide in less than 5 seconds.
