A company’s website is often the first point of contact between them and their customers, so having a credible and functional site is critical, and choosing the best features for ecommerce websites is key.
According to research undertaken by Missouri University of Science and Technology, website viewers form their first impressions of a site within milliseconds, usually based on layout, colours, ease of navigation, and font size.
As people become more selective about how they spend their time online, businesses must incorporate exciting features without sacrificing usability. Having said that, what are the website features that most discourage us from purchasing?
In order to find out, Bespoke Software Development Company asked 2,267 people in the U.K, aged from 18 to 70 to determine what the main reasons for not purchasing from a website are.
The website features that are most likely to put people off buying
Rank | Poor website feature | Amount of people that would be put off buying (%) |
1 | Feels insecure/non trustworthy | 80 |
2 | Poor reviews | 75 |
=3 | Too many pop ups | 68 |
=3 | Complicated sign up process | 68 |
4 | Payment method issues | 67 |
5 | Slow load time | 63 |
6 | No contact/FAQ page | 58 |
7 | Poor quality photos | 54 |
8 | Grammar mistakes | 47 |
=9 | Layout | 36 |
=9 | Lack of videos of product | 36 |
10 | No search function | 32 |
According to Bespoke Software Development Company, the website feature that is most likely to put us off buying is the site feeling insecure or untrustworthy, with 80% of survey respondents ranking this as the most important factor. A further 87% said it would put them off because it felt unsafe or could be fraudulent. If your website appears untrustworthy, you will have a difficult time convincing customers to buy from you. There are numerous things you can do to build trust with your customers, such as keeping your content up to date and ensuring your website has a professional design.
Poor reviews come in second, with 75% of participants saying that this factor will deter them from purchasing from a website. A further 74% said they would be put off by this because they would be concerned about the quality of the product they are purchasing. According to research, 93% of consumers say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions, so having negative reviews about your business will undoubtedly influence buyer behaviour and raise concerns about your products.
Too many pop-ups on the site and a complicated sign-up process ties for third place with 68% of the vote. Constantly having to close pop ups on a site can irritate a consumer, and having a long drawn out sign up process will turn people off because consumers want to get things done quickly.
Payment method issues rank fourth, with 67% of respondents saying they would avoid purchasing from a website because of this, and slow loading times rank fifth, with 63% saying they would avoid purchasing from a website if they encountered this.
Why does this put you off buying?
Rank | Why does this put you off buying? | Amount of people that would be put off buying (%) |
1 | Felt unsafe/fraudulent | 87 |
2 | Worried about the quality of purchase | 74 |
=3 | Too time consuming/frustrating | 33 |
=3 | Feel overwhelmed | 33 |
Jignesh Vaducha from Bespoke Software Development Company offered their thoughts on how you can improve your overall website experience, and the best features for ecommerce websites.
“Your website is one of the most important assets to your business, regardless of whether you are in the personal services sector such as hairdressing or in the tech sector selling goods.
As you can see from the survey results above, customers will judge your website almost instantaneously due to several different factors, so knowing when your website needs to be updated will only help your business become more successful.
The most obvious place to start is with customer reviews. If you have received numerous complaints from potential customers regarding your website’s loading speed and overall user experience, it is time to redesign it. Examine your own website; does it accurately represent you as a brand and provide the first impression you seek?
Another thing to consider is your website’s bounce rate, which you can check by integrating Google Analytics with your site. Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to your site who leave after only viewing one page and not browsing any further, so if your bounce rate is high, say 80%, it means that potential customers are leaving your site as soon as they click on it. What we recommend is that you test your website to see if it is responsive. Do the pages load quickly? Is the text understandable? Is your website’s call to action clear enough?
You should always be looking for ways to improve your website, and combining these factors will provide you with the best chance of success for you and your business, as well as a higher return on investment.”
Methodology
- Bespoke Software Development Company sought to determine the website features that are most likely to put us off buying.
- To accomplish this, they conducted a survey in which they asked what website features are most likely to deter people from purchasing from the website, followed by why.
- The survey had 2,267 participants, all of whom were from the United Kingdom and ranged in age from 18 to 70.
- Following the collection of survey results, the team was able to rank the factors most likely to put us off buying from a website from least to most, resulting in a list of the website features that most discourage us from purchasing.
- The data was collected on 20/10/2022 and is accurate as of then.
