AdWords Retail Newsletter

What shoppers want

Allurent asks how retail sites can do better

In its February 2007 survey on the 2006 holiday season, e-commerce company Allurent reported a 50 percent increase in consumers who claim that a frustrating experience on a retailer’s website would make them less likely to shop at that company’s physical store. Survey participants cited a number of features that could help retail sites avoid this sad fate:

• Better product photos
• More product descriptions and information
• The ability to click on an item to see a popup window with more details
• The ability to mix and match product images on one page
• A single checkout page rather than a lengthy process

What can steps can retailers take to make sure they don’t contribute to shoppers’ frustrations? Try out Google products like Analytics, a free tool that helps you improve your site’s navigation, and Checkout, which makes the payment process quick and easy. And take heart in some more uplifting news: 53 percent of participants in the Allurent survey bought more holiday gifts online in 2006 than in 2005, and 66 percent plan to do even more shopping online in 2007.