The 5 Biggest Problems with Online Shopping

Are you struggling to convert website visitors into customers? It might be because you’re not fully addressing the challenges online shoppers face. Physical stores see conversion rates of around 30%, while e-commerce struggles with an average of just 3%. Why such a big difference? To improve online conversions, you need to take customer frustrations seriously and provide an experience that’s as familiar and supportive as shopping in a physical store.

In this article, we’ll explore the 5 biggest problems online shoppers encounter and how guided selling can help solve them. By addressing decision fatigue and other common obstacles, you can create a smoother shopping experience and positively influence your customers’ purchasing decisions.

1. Making the right choice is complicated

A common problem for online shoppers is that the buying process can often feel overwhelming and complex. When customers are faced with a multitude of options without clear guidance, they can easily get bogged down in the details and ultimately be discouraged from making a purchase.

Imagine someone searching for an e-bike for daily commuting and occasional weekend rides. Without the right guidance, choosing the best e-bike for their needs can be difficult. For instance, they might need to decide between a 500Wh battery and a 750Wh battery or choose between a front-wheel motor and a mid-drive motor. Many customers don’t fully understand the differences between these specifications. These technical details can be confusing and lead to uncertainty about which e-bike truly fits their specific needs.

How do you solve this?

Guided selling offers a solution by simplifying and personalizing the process. Instead of overwhelming customers with a long list of technical specifications, a guided selling tool asks about the customer’s needs and preferences. For example, “What’s the primary purpose of your e-bike?” or “What’s your average daily distance, and what kind of terrain do you usually ride on?” By explaining the differences between options in simple terms, customers can make more informed choices.

Based on the answers, only the e-bikes that are truly relevant to the customer are presented, taking into account their specific situation and preferences. By simplifying and personalizing the process, a guided selling tool helps customers make decisions more quickly and confidently, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.

2. Lack of guidance

In a physical store, you're often given personal assistance from a salesperson. Imagine you’re looking for a specific TV. The salesperson starts by asking questions to understand your needs, such as "What size is the room where you'll place the TV?" or "Are you looking for a model with excellent picture quality for movies?" Based on your answers, they can make targeted recommendations. If you're torn between two models, the salesperson can explain the differences in features, such as picture resolution, screen type, or energy efficiency, helping you make a more informed decision.

Additionally, the salesperson can address any objections you may have, such as concerns about the price. They might suggest a model with extra benefits, like a longer warranty or special promotions, to ease your doubts and show the added value of the investment. If there’s no product that perfectly fits your needs, they’ll offer an alternative that comes closest. This interaction and the salesperson’s expertise help you make a well-considered choice.

Without the right guidance, you might feel lost among the many options and technical specifications. For example, using product filters can quickly show which products meet certain criteria, such as price or brand, but these filters often don’t provide enough context about what these specifications mean for you. For instance, you may not know if a particular laptop is suitable for your use case, such as intensive graphic design or gaming. This lack of guidance can lead to indecision and frustration. Customers might feel discouraged and either postpone their search or decide not to make a purchase at all.

How do you address this?

Qonfi provides a solution by developing a guided selling tool that’s specifically tailored to the customer’s needs and applications. Instead of simply relying on product filters that often exclude technical options and leave you with little understanding of the pros and cons of different choices, guided selling ensures customers can explore their preferences in an interactive way.

With Qonfi, you can focus even more on identifying the specific needs of the customer. This helps you not only understand why they are interested in your product but also exactly what they want to use it for. By gaining a clear insight into their desires and applications, you can recommend the right product in a more targeted and effective way.

With guided selling, you bring "in-store advice" to your website. It acts as a digital advisor that not only takes the immediate search criteria into account but also digs deeper into what the customer really needs. Additionally, with a guided selling tool (from Qonfi), you can always recommend the most relevant product. Even if you don’t have a product in your assortment that perfectly matches the customer's needs. This way, you avoid the dreaded “no sale.”

Imagine a customer is looking for a duvet that is “single-sized,” “suitable for vacations,” and “under €80.” We can recommend a model that’s just slightly above the budget but perfectly matches their preferences for comfort and breathability. Regular product filters might exclude this duvet, but our approach ensures that customers always see the most relevant options.

3. Too many technical specifications

A common problem in online shopping is the overwhelming number of technical specifications, which can often be confusing. Customers are sometimes bombarded with detailed information about product features such as battery life, camera quality, and flight range, without clear guidance on how these details impact their decision.

Imagine a customer looking for a drone, but faced with an extensive list of technical specifications like battery capacity, camera resolution, and maximum flight speed. Without context, it’s difficult to determine which specifications are truly important for their intended use, such as aerial photography or adventurous drone flights.

For example, should they choose a battery with a longer lifespan for extended flights, like the 5000 mAh battery, or is a faster charging time more important for their usage? Or maybe they need to choose a drone with a higher camera resolution or better stabilization for sharp aerial photography? Customers aren’t product experts, and they don’t know what all these technical specifications mean and entail. If they don't know this, how are they supposed to make a choice from it?

How do you address this?

With Qonfi, you get access to analytics tools that help understand customer needs and preferences. Our tools analyze popular customer responses and questions to gain insights into which specifications and features are most important to them. This allows you to continuously improve and optimize your guided selling tool based on real customer data.

Instead of focusing solely on technical specifications, you can tailor your guided selling tool to the actual applications of your customers. For example, if it turns out that customers often have questions about drone camera settings, you can adjust your tool to highlight this information more prominently and link it to use cases, such as taking professional aerial photos or filming sports events.

By aligning guided selling with the needs and applications of your customers, you can provide more targeted advice than product filters, which mainly show technical specifications. Product filters can help refine search results, but they often don’t answer the question of whether the filtered product actually matches the customer’s needs.

4. Dull online shopping experience

Customers can become frustrated when they are forced to scroll through an endless list of products without any guidance or visual appeal. Shoppers often abandon their carts when they feel distracted, uninspired, or bored. This can happen due to several factors, such as a lack of engaging product images, poor product descriptions, or unclear pricing. Customers expect detailed and attractive product information, and when this is missing or of low quality, they may decide not to make a purchase.

For example, someone shopping online for a new piece of furniture might abandon their cart if the website only shows one poor image with no additional photos or videos showing how the furniture fits into a room. Similarly, customers are more likely to drop off if they encounter a confusing checkout process or discover unexpected fees during payment.

How do you address this?

A dull shopping experience can frustrate customers and cause them to quickly abandon their carts. With Qonfi, we improve this experience by making it interactive and engaging:

1. Conversational Guidance
   Qonfi allows customers to engage in a natural conversation. Instead of simply browsing through a list of products, they receive targeted questions that help clarify their needs and make the right choices.
2. Visual Support
   With Qonfi, you can add images and videos to responses, allowing customers to see products in action. This not only helps them understand the benefits better but also makes the experience more appealing.
3. Interactive Product Selection
   Customers can interactively adjust their preferences, for example, by using sliders or selecting options. This makes shopping more dynamic and helps them build their ideal product.
4. Gamification Elements
   You can add small quizzes or choices that help customers learn more about products and discover their preferences in a fun way. This makes the process more enjoyable and encourages engagement.
5. Real-time Feedback and Recommendations
   Qonfi provides real-time feedback on customers' choices and offers personalized recommendations. This keeps them engaged and helps them make informed decisions.

By adding interactive elements like guided selling, the shopping process becomes more engaging and personalized. This increases customer involvement, which can lead to a better overall experience. When customers feel understood and supported, for example, by a tool that helps them make a decision, they are more likely to make a purchase. Additionally, guided selling can lead customers more quickly to the right products, saving them time and increasing the chances of conversion. This aligns with research that shows improving the shopping experience and offering targeted guidance can lead to higher conversion rates.

5. Missing product information

A common problem in online shopping is the lack of detailed product information. It's hard to make a decision when you don't have all the relevant details about a product. Customers often feel uncertain when making a purchase decision if they don't have the right information, such as specifications, dimensions, or use cases. This lack of transparency can cause hesitation or even lead them to abandon the purchase entirely.

Imagine you are looking for an electric bike and filtering based on battery capacity, motor power, and price. While these details are helpful, they often don't provide enough insight into how these specifications could improve your specific situation. For example, if you plan on taking long rides, a 750 Wh (watt-hour) battery might offer more value than a smaller 500 Wh battery, because the larger battery allows you to travel longer distances without needing to recharge.

On the other hand, if you're cycling on hilly terrain, a 500 W motor is more important than a 250 W motor, as the more powerful motor will help you tackle the hills more easily. Without an explanation of the value of these features for your specific needs, it can be difficult to understand why a more expensive bike with better specifications is the better choice.

How do you solve this?

A guided selling tool provides the solution here. Instead of just displaying technical specifications, the guide explains how features like a larger battery or a more powerful motor can fulfill your needs.
 

For example, a guided selling tool can clarify why a more expensive bike with a larger battery is better for long rides and hilly terrain. By providing this context, the added value of pricier options becomes clearer, helping customers make a confident choice that truly fits their needs. This can increase customer satisfaction and boost the likelihood of a purchase.