New Quantum Metric Research Uncovers Consumer Experience Expectations and Frustrations When Shopping Online, and How Retailers Can Deliver Excellence This Black Friday

Quantum Metric, the digital experience intelligence platform, released new research identifying top consumer pain points when shopping online and found that on Black Friday in particular, a slow shopping experience can be so frustrating to consumers and drive them directly to the competition.

Shoppers are browsing faster and spending less time on websites, and they expect a speedy process along the way. Over 1 in 3 (36%) Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers say a slow browsing experience will lead them to shop elsewhere, and conversion numbers prove this to be the case: For one retailer, a 6-second load time delay, regardless of the circumstance, reduced conversion success by half.

“Black Friday is the biggest sales event of the year, and built-up expectations result in an incredible door-busting mentality online,” said Mario Ciabarra, founder and CEO, Quantum Metric. “Last year, one of our Fortune-500 retail customers experienced a 500% traffic increase, while another saw revenue increase more than 12 times compared to the average Fridays prior. In order to make sure that customers do not leave disappointed and empty-handed, retailers must diligently prepare for the influx of potential customers. Their Black Friday experience must be seamless and rewarding – turning rage-clicks and refreshes into revenue opportunities, or they risk losing customers to competitors.”

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Narrowing in on Black Friday Experiences

The survey found that nearly 1 in 3 (31%) Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers are waiting until Black Friday to do the bulk of their shopping. And last year’s revenue and conversion numbers show a massive influx in traffic and purchasing, at times over 12 times a retailer’s usual sales.

A unique combination of needs and desires builds up consumer tensions and leaves little room for brand forgiveness, as almost half of Black Friday/Cyber Monday consumers say they are more likely to go to a competitor’s website instead of waitlisting if a product they want is out of stock (48%). This translates quickly into lost revenue for retailers. Last year, one Fortune-500 retailer had the value of abandoned carts total almost three times their revenue numbers for the shopping holiday.

Over a fifth of shoppers (22%) know exactly what products they want and will check for those particular items on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and these consumers can pay big dividends to a company’s bottom-line. Customers searching for specific items had a much higher conversion rate than sales-browsing customers on Black Friday, and for one Fortune 500 retailer the difference was significant: Those searching for specific items represented 55% of their Black Friday revenue.

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Yearlong Digital Frustrations

A lackluster digital customer experience can be defined by the seemingly tiniest of issues and has proven to hurt brands in a big way by losing consumer trust and hundreds of billions in potential revenue. According to the research:

• Nearly half of consumers (49%) would abandon their cart if they received an error message upon checkout that prevented them from completing their purchase online
• Over a third of consumers (34%) would be worried about their personal information being secure if they encountered an error after clicking checkout
• Nearly 1 in 5 (17%) would immediately go to a competitor’s site to find the same or similar product if faced with errors upon attempting to check out

Some of the top issues that lead consumers to abandon online purchases include:

• Product out of stock after adding to cart: Almost half of Americans (49%)
• Long load times: Almost a third of Americans (30%)
• Inability to access their account: Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) Americans
• Losing spot on page after adding item to cart: Almost a third of Americans (30%)
• Search doesn’t deliver items they are looking for: Nearly a third (30%) of consumers

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