E-commerce sellers may be providing a poor shopping experience without even knowing it, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers.
THE investigation from Deloitte Digital in October 2023 is a good reminder of the long-standing gap in how merchants and buyers perceive the e-commerce experience.
![Photo of a man looking at a smartphone screen Photo of a man looking at a smartphone screen](https://www.practicalecommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/012024-man-shopping-on-phone-570x380.jpg)
Online retailers often overestimate customer admiration for shopping experiences.
Perception gap
If Deloitte Digital’s survey is accurate, about 80% of brands selling online “believe consumers are impressed by the online shopping experiences they provide.” However, less than half of consumers actually are.
Although this may seem shocking, it is not new.
It could be argued that there has always been a gap between the perceptions of business leaders and those of their customers.
For example, a September 2015 Gartner article stated: “Employees still see a huge gap between the design and usability of the software they use outside of work and the software they use in the workplace. »
The article noted that user-friendly consumer software had created new expectations among employees in the workspace.
Examples of this include accounting and inventory management software. The creators of this software thought the user experience was good; customers (employees) often did not.
Researchers and leaders have long sought frameworks to identify this gap. Examples include the total quality management principles of WE Deming in Japan in the 1950s, SERVQUAL (evaluating “SERVice” and “QUALity”), Six Sigma, and Net Promoter Score.
Why a gap?
Having recognized the perception gap, we can ask why.
The likely answer is that customer expectations are changing rapidly. LLBean and Amazon have redefined expectations by launching free shipping. Soon, free shipping wasn’t enough. It also had to be fast. Then “expedited delivery” went from five days to two days, then to one day, and now even same day in some areas.
Online merchants – or indeed e-commerce platform developers – who improve the shopping experience are setting a new standard for their customers, hence a perception gap.
Take action
The fact that shoppers are always looking for a better e-commerce experience should spur businesses to act for two reasons.
First, the gap could widen. Sellers and e-commerce platforms that fail to meet buyer expectations risk loss of revenue or worse.
Second, closing the perception gap provides a competitive opportunity. Deloitte Digital’s survey reveals that “customers spend 37% more with brands they believe deliver consistent, positive commerce experiences.”
Therefore, online sellers should regularly measure buyer perceptions and update features accordingly.
Focus on the fundamentals
But acting does not mean following trends. Focus on the essentials first.
The Deloitte Digital survey identified four key characteristics of e-commerce where there is a perception gap, suggesting a sales opportunity.
For each of the four “gap” characteristics, Deloitte reported the percentages of e-commerce businesses that thought buyers were impressed versus buyers who agreed.
E-commerce feature or service | Brand perception | Buyer Perception |
---|---|---|
Clear Inventory Availability | 77% | 54% |
Easy returns/exchanges | 80% | 59% |
Proactive delivery updates | 78% | 59% |
Precise search and discovery | 79% | 63% |
Sellers should investigate why they overestimate the buyer’s favorable opinions.
Take “Precise Search and Discovery,” which had the smallest perception gap in the survey.
A July 2022 report from the Baymard Institute, a customer experience research firm, noted that 42% of 133 “large” e-commerce stores surveyed had on-site search issues, such as allowing shoppers to search by product type, i.e. sofa rather than sofa. a chair.
So even a small gap in perception creates opportunities for improvement.