Poorly designed websites costing ecommerce platforms billions in lost sales

New research on online shopping habits by enterprise CMS (opens in new tab) Storyblok has claimed poorly-designed websites could cost British ecommerce platforms (opens in new tab) to lose over £1 billion in revenue.

The research found that each online shopper abandons, on average, five purchases a year, with a total value of £50 due to poor website user experience – and 12% of shoppers abandon purchases worth more than £100.

In a survey that asked 6,000 consumers across the US and Europe about online shopping behaviour and website functionality, 48% of UK consumers said they abandon purchases due to bad website design (opens in new tab) and user experience. 

Bad website bad business 

Storyblok estimates that the loss in purchases due to poor website functionality equates to £1.41 billion annually.

The results reveal that the main reasons for avoiding purchasing from a website include poor navigation or layout, slow loading speeds, pop-ups and uncompetitive prices.

“Consumers want easy to navigate, intuitively designed, and fast loading websites. However, a lot of ecommerce websites are falling short. Five purchases per shopper in missed sales may not seem like a lot, but when you scale this up to the number of potential new customers businesses are missing out on, it becomes a very significant amount of money,” said Dominik Angerer, CEO and co-founder of Storyblok.

“Additional functionality is still an important factor in attracting customers, but it’s critical to get the basics right first. For example, by investing in a headless, composable commerce tech infrastructure, companies can set the foundation for a great, fast-performing user experience.”  

Those questioned between the ages of 18 and 25 say cluttered or outdated site designs are the main reasons for leaving an ecommerce website (opens in new tab).

Aside from that, the research uncovered additional functionality such as chatbots ranks highly as one of the most important parts of an ecommerce website experience. 

Participants of the survey aged 55+ chose ease of navigation and fast loading speeds as the most important factors, as the research results found that older consumers account for higher value abandoned purchases – averaging of £60.52 compared to £34 for those aged 18-25. 

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