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In a recent survey of over 1,000 online holiday shoppers Gomez, Inc. discovered that more than nine out of 10 shoppers will simply abandon an online store after three or fewer unsuccessful experiences to complete a purchase, the survey found. Sound pretty drastic? Not really when you consider that 3 of 4 shoppers complained about slow loading sites which in turn makes then switch to competitors sites.
Gomez estimates there will be $24.3 Billion in online sales between November and December 1 so retailers can’t afford to lose consumer spending to their competitors. The also suggest that “hooks” such as free shipping and security assurances help to ensure consumers continue to click.

William Agush, VP of Marketing at Gomez says “Online shoppers have exceedingly high expectations this holiday season, and they are an unforgiving crowd. It appears that ensuring a quality online experience trumps brand loyalty, and even savings.”

What is the connection between online sales & marketing?

- Bad news travels fast. Almost half of respondents (47 percent) would tell five or more people if they had a bad online experience. Jupiter Research has forecast 114 million online holiday shoppers this year, so if just 10 percent were to have a disappointing online experience, almost 27 million people could hear about it.

- Poor online experiences can harm brick-and-mortar sales. This stems from the fact that survey respondents research an average of 30 percent of all their purchases online before buying offline. And, 64 percent said that if they had an unsatisfactory online experience, they would stop, or reconsider shopping, at that retailer’s brick-and-mortar store.

- Conversely, 71 percent of shoppers at brick-and-mortar stores said that a bad in-store experience would also make them stop, or reconsider shopping, at that brand’s online counterpart.

- Multichannel retailing works. Sixty-two (62) percent of respondents use print catalogs to drive their online purchasing decisions.