Survey: Consumers are unhappy with online shopping

Rising rates of e-commerce may not correspond with increasing customer satisfaction.

A new global survey of consumers from Contentsquare indicates only 15% of respondents are happy with their online shopping experience. The survey also reveals that the top three causes of customer unhappiness when shopping online are when a site uses pop-ups and advertisements (49%), when a site or app crashes during checkout (48%), and when a discount code doesn’t work at checkout (45%).

Other leading elements of online shopping that make people unhappy include when a website or app goes offline (23%), and when a customer can’t find what they’re looking for (42%).

The research also shows that for almost one-third of respondents, online shopping is associated with boredom, frustration and even anxiety. Three in 10 reported feeling merely “content” with their digital shopping experience. Despite a general lack of satisfaction with online shopping, 37% of respondents say they will avoid physical stores during the current holiday season.

According to Contentsquare, there are four keys to digital customer happiness: convenience, product selection, prices and product information, and customization.

Contentsquare also surveyed global marketers, and found a disconnect between consumers and retailers when it comes to customer happiness. More than three-quarters (77%) of marketer respondents said their brands don’t think about customer happiness as a key concern. Only 13% believe the commonly used net promoter score (NPS) marketing metric provides an accurate representation of how their customers feel.

Contentsquare surveyed 4,000 consumers and over 500 marketers across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.