WHAT STOPS PEOPLE FROM BUYING ONLINE?

A lack of trust and face-to-face interaction prevents many people from purchasing online.

It’s a known fact that consumers require a greater level of trust and confidence when buying online than face to face. When you’re dealing with an unknown shop selling products of unknown quality, trust plays a major role in mitigating feelings of uncertainty and winning over new clients. In the absence of any other information, we’ll look to the brand’s website for cues as to whether we can trust them or not. In fact, when potential customers visit your site, the first thing they will do is subconsciously scan it for these cues. 

Contrary to what you might expect, when it comes to e-shopping, we tend to be more concerned by security and privacy issues than price. In one study, when asked what would prevent them from making an online purchase, around 30 percent of people reported privacy and security concerns, 25 percent cited a lack of customer service and only 9–15 percent said that the absence of their friends or a real salesperson would put them off. 

In short, the two main things that prevent people from shopping online are the absence of face-to-face interactions and the greater risk associated with online transactions. Both of these elements contribute to a greater sense of uncertainty and fear, which is why we tend to seek greater assurance that our sensitive information will be protected when we shop online than we do in a physical shop. Making your customers feel safe can be tricky. New visitors typically find it difficult to assess a website’s level of privacy and security and they will initially look to your website’s functionality and design (its “professional look and feel”) and the reputation of your company to decide whether they can trust you or not