Research Reveals What Annoys Shoppers Most

In a report from FIDO Alliance, some of the most significant annoyances with the online retail industry can contribute to an increased cart abandonment rate and lost sales.

According to the report, some of the most common annoyances include forgotten passwords and concerns of card details and safety.

In a survey conducted in the US, 58 percent of participants said they have abandoned a purchase because they either could not remember their password or the retailer gave no option for guest checkout, forcing them to set up a new account to make their purchase.

Furthermore, 40 percent of the respondents said they did not want to have their card details stored on a retailer’s site.

“Many common online retail practices, like setting up new passwords and accounts, are being rejected by consumers and consequently are hurting retailers’ bottom lines. These outdated processes introduce friction into an experience that people rightfully expect to be as smooth as possible,” explained Andrew Shikiar, the Executive Director of FIDO Alliance.

“While historically there has been little that merchants can do other than to be frustrated at password-related losses, that is no longer the case – and retailers need to look for new solutions to removing needless friction from online transactions, or run the risk of losing customers to the competition.”

The report found that consumers ‘overwhelmingly’ prefer when retailers enable them to log in using biometrics, such as face ID or a fingerprint scan. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said they believe these on-device methods are faster than using traditional two-factor authentication. A further 66 percent said they were easier to use.

“2020 has found more and more people fulfilling many of their needs by making a bulk of their purchases online,” said Shikiar. “Merchants especially need to make the buying experience simpler for consumers without sacrificing security. The good news is that most consumer devices today ship equipped with the technology to provide these simpler, stronger authentication methods – it is now incumbent upon retailers to take advantage of these capabilities.”

How does this affect Australians?

While this study was conducted on American shoppers, the feedback can be applied to retailers across the globe.

There are similar annoyances that affect Australian consumers on the regular. Some frustrations are small, but they can play a big role in the deciding factor for a consumer.

“When the preference like ‘order by highest/lowest price’ keeps resetting every time you make a new search (Woolworths),” is one of the online retail annoyances that Jasmin Hyde, the Account Manager at Good Talent experiences.

Other frustrations include “when keywords don’t come up as they should when you search – some results seem quite abstract,” she told Power Retail.

To counter the study from the FIDO Alliance, the two-factor authentication and longer log-in process can be detrimental to a customer’s purchase journey. A BNPL annoyance that Hyde experiences is “having to sign in to Afterpay every single time despite using the same device,” she said.

While little things may not get in the way of the bigger developments within the retail industry, it’s imperative to remember who the end market is: the customer. Listening to their needs and adapting to the changing customer is essential in 2020 and beyond.

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