With the proliferation of the Internet, consumers have discovered the ease and fun of shopping online. No longer is it necessary to burn gas and precious time to find the latest fashions, food or device. Consumers only need a way to connect to the Web.
The result of this influx in eCommerce is not all roses, however, as recent research has shown that adults are experiencing problems completing transactions online. For a channel that can serve as an excellent deflection of contact center traffic, the reality is that many contact center agents are now busy trying to defuse frustrated consumers.
Yet the results of the 4th annual survey of online consumer behavior conducted by Harris Interactive for Tealeaf found that nearly 9 out of 10 online adults in the UK who have conducted an online transaction in the past year have experienced problems doing so.
Another 41 percent of online adults who experience problems transacting reported that they would switch to a competitor or abandon a transaction entirely if they experienced an online transaction problem. In addition, four in five online adults who experienced problems — or 84 percent — share their experiences with others both online and offline.
This represents a $57 billion potential impact to revenue on shopping sites alone, which is a huge opportunity for companies to harness, simply by ensuring their Web sites work.
A recent Forrester Research report cited that 91 percent of business decision-makers revealed that customer experience is either very important or critical to their 2008 efforts.
While customer service is increasingly important to businesses, this survey highlights that companies need to take immediate steps to ensure they understand the experience of their customers who are transacting online.
These studies have highlighted that there is a lack of integration between the contact center and Web channels of these businesses….