Delivery charges and slow payments have customers abandoning baskets

Retailers are losing a large amount through abandoned baskets, with Primer finding the value of abandoned online transactions averaging at £213.84.

Almost 40% of online shopping carts are being abandoned, reported the no-code automation firm, which found that there was a disconnect when looking into what consumers are having difficulties with and what online retailers are working on.

Expensive delivery cost was a problem 46% of consumers cited when online shopping, and deliveries being late was an issue for 32% of customers.

But only a quarter of retailers are looking into better fulfilment and shipping, with many instead making how many products they have on offer their top priority – more retailers are prioritising returns than deliveries at 26%.

As well as delivery issues, payment was the next biggest problem for consumers – 27% are not happy having to create an account to pay for goods online, 17% said payment failures were a big issue for them, and 15% have suffered from complex payment processes when shopping online.

Gabriel Le Roux, co-founder of Primer, said: “It’s never been more important to nail your checkout process and ensure there are no barriers to purchase.

“Whilst UK retailers may be aware of the importance of maintaining their payment process, with 100% of retailers making improvements over the course of the past year to keep up with new technologies and consumer payment trends, they need to ensure that the changes they’re making reflect the demands of consumers.

“Seamless checkout processes and affordable delivery are what consumers want, therefore, where retailers need to be focusing their efforts.”

When retailers are falling at the last hurdle, 76% of consumers abandoning a basket because payments are taking too long.

Almost 70% of customers also claim they won’t go through with a purchase online if they can’t pay using the method they prefer.

Consumer expectation was already on the rise before the Covid-19 pandemic, but being forced to stay at home during lockdowns made customers even more demanding of online retailers, now wanting free delivery, short delivery windows and seamless returns.

Primer urged retailers to be more upfront about delivery and returns costs, as well as work on their fulfilment to make the entire shopping process more efficient.

Security is a top priority for consumers, and 47% of customers will use a retailer again if they feel like the online shopping experience was secure and safe.

Almost a quarter of customers have experienced online fraud in the past 12 months, and good security measures is the top ask of retailers for 51% of online shoppers.

More than a third of customers want visible representations of a secure checkout, and it is vital to them to shop with brands they know they can trust – retailers may achieve higher conversion rates if they make their security measures more apparent to customers earlier on in the online shopping process.

During the pandemic many businesses, retailers included, were working to improve their online remits, in some cases hiring more staff to deal with increased orders or developing different online offerings to draw people in during a time where e-commerce was a consumer’s only option.

Retailers are still working on gaining and retaining more customers, making channel creation and product ranges their main priority.

Selling through social media is a priority for 32% of retailers over the past year, and consumer behaviour is leading the same way, with more than half of British shoppers claiming to have either already used social media to make a purchase or plan to do so soon.

This channel is more popular with younger shoppers, with 43% of Gen Z – and a similar number of millennials – having already made purchases this way.

Facebook is the most popular social media platform for online shopping, with 57% of shoppers already having purchased items from there. Instagram and TikTok were head-to-head with each being a shopping platform for 32% of digital shoppers.

But legacy systems are standing in the way of improving fulfilment, with 47% of retailers stating this is a problem for them and 34% saying that tackling legacy software and platforms is a goal for their future projects investments.

This legacy technology is causing an issue with the attraction and retention of talent – Primer stated many developers are either unwilling or unable to work on legacy systems, and 62% of companies said they cannot find people with the skills they need.

Some retailers have been trying to tackle this by developing their in-house skills with people who are already accustomed to how internal systems work and can bridge the gap between the old and the new.