Lack of trust is usually a dealbreaker for business relationships each online and offline. In online shopping, it will possibly be a non-starter for consumers, in keeping with a brand new report. November 2023 survey data highlighted among the biggest ecommerce problems faced by shoppers. And trust issues amongst shoppers were different than those shared by sellers.
Notably, the report found that customers are inclined to trust social media commerce marketplaces greater than other channels. Social media commerce platforms were trusted by 85% of the survey-takers who used them. Traditional ecommerce platforms, nonetheless, had a trust rating of only 48%. Physical stores, meanwhile, scored a trust rating of 70%, and firms’ own digital storefronts had a trust rating of 55%.
The survey was commissioned by the insurance provider Chubb and performed by the firm iResearch. The authors assessed perspectives from 500 adult consumers, in addition to 525 online merchants.
The largest ecommerce problems for consumers
In identifying prevalent sources of distrust amongst internet buyers, the report found a transparent leader. Consumer responses showed that 75% of those taking the survey had been victims of monetary fraud. Delivery delays were also common, showing up in 61% of responses. That category was followed by lost payments attributable to glitches within the purchasing process (55%). Behind that was steadily receiving damaged items (42%).
Comfort levels with social media shopping tended to diminish amongst older generations, with Gen Z showing the best rate of activity. 46% of Gen Z participants within the survey were comfortable with buying via social media, in comparison with 30% of millennials, 22% of Gen X shoppers, and 0% of baby boomers.
What results in a scarcity of consumer trust
Putting those results into context, the report’s authors framed trust gaps as one biggest ecommerce problems and a serious obstacle to customer loyalty.
“Whether it’s on social media or on e-commerce platforms, the shopper journey have to be easy, easy and provides the patron confidence — their trust is fragile,” said Amy McNeece, senior vp of digital consumer partnerships for Chubb in North America. “Delivery issues, damaged products and online scams can all shatter consumer trust straight away, and customer loyalty is critical within the age of digital commerce.”
Trust tended to skew higher in Latin America versus other regions. Shoppers there buying online not less than thrice per thirty days (75%) showed up at a better rate than North America (62%), Europe (59%) and Asia-Pacific countries (56%).
“Latin America’s fast-paced online shopping reveals a savvy digital consumer,” said Gabriel Lazaro, executive vp and head of digital for international business at Chubb. “This has been driven by mobile and social media leapfrog behaviors throughout the last decade. The emerging middle-class consumer has access, because of e-commerce platforms, to a wider and broader range of services than through traditional channels.”
Concerns about social media marketplaces amongst sellers
As for retailers, the Chubb report spotlighted one other set of unique ecommerce problems with social media channels. 81% of shops said they sold through social media marketplaces, and three-quarters indicated that they used social media front-end experiences for marketing. Nevertheless, trust elsewhere remained a challenge, in keeping with the findings.
Just 35% of online merchants expressed trust in social commerce marketplaces for inventory management. Results were also below 40% for ease of navigation (30%), refunds and returns (31%), shipping and success (33%) and payment processing (35%).
This skepticism was further illustrated by 70% of shops indicating that items they sold on social media marketplaces weren’t delivered in what they considered to be good condition. That failure rate was lower (54%) for goods sold via ecommerce platforms. As well as, 65% of merchants cited a scarcity of delivery options. 60% mentioned an overall lack of control regarding the state of the products being delivered to be an issue.
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