9 Reasons Why Most Website Visitors Leave Without Buying

Increasing traffic to your website is the first vital step in making more sales online, but the disappointing truth is that most website visitors leave without buying. In this article, we examine the main reasons why this is the case, and what you can do about it to increase website conversions and sales.

1) Poor navigation - potential customers may leave your site before buying or enquiring because they can’t find what they are looking for. The usual cause is a poorly organised or overly-complex navigation menu, in which pages are not organised consistently into product categories, or where too many clicks have to be made to find the right thing.

2) Insufficient security – online security is paramount in the minds of website visitors today, so visitors are unlikely to make purchases or share information on sites with perceived security issues. We recommend implementing https security on your website for greater encryption (this provides higher security than the standard http extension), and giving customers a secure and trusted payment option that doesn’t require them to share debit card information on your site – e.g. PayPal integration.

3) Obligatory account registration – your website visitors are busy people, and many resent the necessity of having to set up yet another ‘customer account’ with your website before they can purchase, especially if this involves having to remember a password, or login to their emails to confirm the unwanted registration. If you offer an online account, make the benefits of signing up clear, and always include the option to check out as a ‘guest’.

4) Shipping charges – both B2C and B2B e-commerce shoppers are used to competitive, fast, and often free shipping on products ordered online, and expect the same from smaller suppliers as they do from large retailers. High shipping charges and long delivery times can be off-putting to potential buyers and could deter sales. While you may not have the same flexibility to offer free shipping as Amazon, discounted or free shipping for bulk orders may encourage more online sales.

5) Faulty or inefficient shopping cart – there is little more frustrating to a potential customer than a complicated buying procedure and even worse is a faulty or inefficient shopping cart that ‘times out’ or makes it difficult for buyers to adjust product quantities.

6) Not enough product information – visitors may be deterred from making a purchase if there isn’t enough information available on your website about each product. It pays to invest in comprehensive and detailed web content for each product category and individual product page, including technical information, product dimensions, and a summary of benefits and features, so that customers can do all the research they need while on your site and don’t have to go elsewhere.

6) Poor product images – each product you sell online should be adequately promoted by high quality product images and, if possible, demonstration videos. Low resolution images or products without images may undermine trust in your business and deter sales.

7) Insufficient product reviews – online reviews are valuable currency for both businesses and individuals making purchases online, and many customers won’t make an online purchase until reading several detailed reviews and testimonials. Even for highly rated products, visitors may seek out negative reviews for a ‘balanced view’, so the more reviews you can get online, the better, and the more confidence you give to your buyers. Most people won’t leave a review without asking unless they are unhappy, so request reviews from each customer by email within five working days of making a purchase, while the experience is still fresh in their mind.

8) Slow load time – a slow loading website is a huge deterrent to potential customers, especially when using a mobile device on a slow 4G connection. E-commerce websites should use fast servers to host their sites and a strong development platform, such as Magento 2 or Shopify to avoid web browser issues that could cause the site to load incorrectly on certain devices. From a web design and development perspective too, you should ensure that all images and videos are compressed and optimised for mobile devices, and keep the number of plug-ins and third-party tools you use on your website to a minimum.

What next?

For every type of e-commerce business, your website is the key to making more sales online. We can help you put strategies in place to attract more sales-qualified visitors to your website and construct compelling content to maximise online purchases. To find out more, please call our website development team today on 01332 343281.

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