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Online Shoppers Aren't Impulsive

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-i-want-it-now dept.

Rollie Hawk writes "When it comes to online shoppers, conventional wisdom has long been divided. Some have argued that the instant nature of shopping from home over the Internet leads to quick purchases while others have contended that easy price comparisons on the Web allow buyers to do more research first. For now, it looks like the latter camp is closer to the truth. According to a press release by ScanAlert, online shoppers are more frugal than many retailers previously thought. According to their testing, 35% take more than 12 hours to make a purchase, 21% take more than three days, and 14% take more than a week. On the average, online shoppers take 19 hours to make a purchase after the initial visit. This has some important marketing ramifications according to ScanAlert CEO Ken Leonard. "The implication to merchants is that the shopping cart is not just a convenience factor. It must be a comfort zone to shoppers. These results were not expected." In the press release, Leonard advised online sellers that "consumers abandon shopping carts with an ease that frustrates and often confuses online retailers. Retailers must understand, however, that almost half of all online purchases are from shoppers who leave a site after the first visit, and return -- even days later -- to buy.""

12 of 388 comments (clear)

  1. Heard that before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "consumers abandon shopping carts with an ease that frustrates and often confuses online retailers"

    Given that online purchases involve a potential purchaser having to evaluate a virtual product, rather than something tangible, how can they be surprised? I'm dumbfounded that online sellers compare an eCart to a real shopping trolley. Are they off theirs?

    1. Re:Heard that before by steveg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A big factor here is that at some sites, the only way you can get a good idea of the price (and shipping charges, etc.) is to commit it to the shopping cart. I've even seen some sites that explicitly acknowlege that -- "To see the price put it in your shopping cart. You can delete it if you don't want it."

      --
      Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
    2. Re:Heard that before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      More often than not, it's not the store's fault. Manufacturers often place restrictions on how sellers can advertise their products. It's called the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP), and is used by the manufacturers to ward off down-pressure on their prices. Honestly, I'm sure the sellers would love for everyone to know that their price is way below everyone else's.

      The policy sucks, but blame the manufacturers, not the sellers.

  2. eBay by kronak · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The exception here is definetly eBay. By placing time restrictions on when people are able to buy items, particularly hard to find items, sellers are able to trick many buyers into believing they have to buy something.

    With other vendors however, there are so many options for where you can buy things that often you have to spend weeks just comparing prices.

    1. Re:eBay by drooling-dog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's odd that we refer to "winning" an auction, when what we've really done is to prove that we're willing to pay more for an item than anyone else. How is that winning? Yet the psychic prize of having "won" something keeps many an auction going, I'm sure...

  3. They're just too worried about the bottom line... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    to admit that all those online shopping carts aren't being cashed out because they're being used by online hoboes.

  4. Absolute rubbish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    my friend in Nigeria, Dr NMBAGO DSUSU assures me i should always proceed quickly with any transactions i make online, the more money the quicker i should proceed.

    this article is just FUD to put me off collecting my 25 MILLION DOLLARS

  5. Its true! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm still trying to decide which 3dfx card to get.

  6. retailers confused? by rovingeyes · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "consumers abandon shopping carts with an ease that frustrates and often confuses online retailers"

    The reson the shoppers abandon easily is probably because of some popular techniques the online retailers use:

    • They force you to add item to cart to see the price.
    • After you add item to the cart, they tell you that you have to pay sales tax
    • After you add item to cart, you are told that there is a $20 shipping and handling fee, and finally...
    • The item is back oredered.
    Duh!
  7. A fatal flaw in the study by October_30th · · Score: 5, Funny

    The study does not seem to address drunken online shopping...

    --
    The owls are not what they seem
  8. No cart retention = no business by GPLDAN · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've abandoned tech book sellers and other smaller online retilers for this very reason. I will put things in my cart on Amazon, and leave them there for weeks or months. I don't always have the discretionary cash to buy all the books and videos that I want, but I like keeping my cart around.

    Amazon does this well. If you put a used book in your cart, if that allotment of books goes away, it comes out of your cart. If an item is sold out or discontinued, it comes out of your cart. I would like even more customization, such as email notifications when things get removed from my cart, but it doesn't have that.

    This type of E-commerce sophistication should be called the Ebayzinization of the world. We want auctions, we want resale markets, and we want them organized. Companies like Amazon who do this well can create monopolization effects, such as the resale book market. A lot of book sellers hate Amazon, hate the way that they get a bite of a book transaction, on damaged or used books, and don't give them (the sellers) any concession for postage, etc. When you buy a used book from somebody on Amazon, they have nothing to do with it, except to perform a middleman and something of an indemification of the transaction. i.e. if the reseller takes your money and runs, Amazon will work with you to help you get your book.

    The key to all of this, is shopping cart power. I want to make wish lists on things I see - and rank them according to what things I would rather have. I can't remember all the things I see that I might like, my brain is not going to remember this, and I don't want to write it down. I want to walk up to a kiosk at a store at Christmas and pull my, and any of my trusted friends shopping carts up, much like wedding registries work. I want to buy a pal something he wants for Christmas, keep who it was anonymous, and be assured that it gets checked off and nobody else gets him the same thing.

    This study should serve as a catalyst for even more customization options for major E-retailers. Places like Amazon can market capture places like Crate & Barrel (just picking one from thin air), as the cost and complexity of maintaining that kind of system begins to spiral upward, these type s of places don't want to do it for themselves anymore.

  9. Reason I abandon MY shopping cart by Free_Trial_Thinking · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Website is broken
    2. They just won't tell me shipping costs until it's too late
    3. Website hangs, freezes, or something doesn't work with Firefox, or my privacy/security settings.
    4. I change my mind.
    5. I get scared
    6. I lose interest
    7. The checkout process just takes way too long
    8. They want to "verify" my credit card by calling me.
    9. I have to sign an agreement.
    10. They need too much personal information.