Transaction problems cause consumers to abandon website

Bad customer service and problems during online transactions are causing customers to go directly to the competition, according to a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive for Tealeaf Technology Inc.

by Helen Leggatt

An incredible 87 percent of online consumers have experienced problems with transactions. The figure has now remained at this level for three years and it’s causing untold damage to online sales for many websites.

Forty-two percent of those who experienced transactional problems abandoned the process or switched to a competitor’s website. A further 52 percent abandoned their relationship with a website after experiencing bad customer service from a contact center.

"We're in a 'perfect storm' as users' dependency on ecommerce grows and their patience for bad online experiences wears thin," said Rebecca Ward, Tealeaf's CEO. "More than a decade into ecommerce, we're increasingly savvy online consumers, and we're no longer willing to put up with experiences that do not live up to our expectations."

According a recent report on the Harris/Tealeaf study by Linda Rosencrance of PC World, the most common problems that users encountered when visiting banking, travel, retail and insurance websites were:

- Problems navigating the website – 37 percent
- Received error messages – 34 percent
- Problems logging in to website – 30 percent
- Received confusing, insufficient or incorrect information – 29 percent
- Endless loops that block transactions – 22 percent
- A search function that didn’t operate correctly – 21 percent
- Automatically booted off the page – 20 percent