Online Transactions
Privacy and Security are Primary Concern for Online Customers
Nearly 86 percent of British consumers who have conducted transactions online in the past year have experienced problems completing
transactions. This finding came from a survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Tealeaf. It also highlighted an unforgiving
attitude towards online stores, with 37 percent of those who have experienced problems when conducting an online transaction in the last 12
months saying they would abandon their transaction entirely if they experienced a problem.
Poor Customer Support
According to the survey, consumer intolerance of an online experience is exacerbated by poor customer support from contact centres when people
seek to rectify the problems they encounter. 43 percent of adults who experience transaction problems contact customer service centres and yet,
worryingly, only 47 percent of these felt that this resolved their issue. Ultimately, 40 percent of British consumers who experienced bad
customer service from a company's contact centre following an online issue stopped doing business with the company altogether.
British consumers have very high expectations of their online experiences, yet many companies doing business online are still failing to
deliver an acceptable level of customer experience and service to internet customers, said Rebecca Ward, CEO, Tealeaf.
"The only way to understand and pinpoint problems, improve conversion rates and better serve
customers is to have visibility into everything that happens on your online channel. The lack of face-to-face contact is an obvious disadvantage
online, but customers must feel as though they are valued and that their issues are understood, processed and, ultimately, solved. Businesses
need to pay the same consideration to the experience of each and every online customer, just as they would in a physical shop or via a call
centre, and to achieve this they require a clear picture of where their websites work and where they fall short. Only then will they be able to
take steps to improve the service they deliver to their online customers," said Ward.
Online Transactions Survey Key Findings
Other key findings of the survey include:
Online vs. Offline – 88 percent of adults were not willing to accept lower levels of customer service online than they would
receive in person.
Functionality – 20 percent of those conducting online transactions felt that the ease of completing a transaction was the
most important factor in a positive customer experience. Yet 31 percent of those who had problems conducting online transactions felt that the
website was too difficult to navigate and another 29 percent were unable to complete their action due to an "endless loop", for example.
Security – Privacy is a primary concern of those conducting online transaction; in fact 32 percent felt that website security
was the most critical factor of a positive customer experience. However, 40 percent of those who experience problems when conducting an online
transaction reported that, when they have transaction issues, they are likely or very likely to question a company's ability to keep their
private information secure.
Successful transactions are more important than loyalty programs for travel consumers – For example, 92 percent of British
consumers who have booked travel online reported that the ability to complete a transaction without encountering a problem was important or very
important to them, whereas only 24 percent reported that the travel provider's loyalty or rewards program was important or very important.
Source: Eye for Travel
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