A lack of face-to-face interaction with online FS shoppers is harming e-commerce sales. That’s according to new research carried out by Redshift Research on behalf of Whisbi, a lead management technology provider.

A survey, which samples the views of 1,000 online shoppers, found that 55 per cent of respondents do most of their FS shopping online. In addition, 45 per cent believe that being able to see and speak to a sales assistant using live video would make the purchasing process easier. Forty three per cent of FS shoppers buy online in order to get the best available price whilst 21 per cent said it saves time. Other reasons cited for shopping online were the greater range of suppliers (16 per cent), being able to shop at any time of the day (12 per cent) and not having to travel to the shop (six per cent). However, 20 per cent of respondents consider FS products to be the most frustrating to purchase online.

Dylan Fuller, UK country manager at Whisbi, says: “A significant percentage of FS websites aren’t aware of the real frustrations their customers experience when shopping online, therefore the purchasing experience needs to be fundamentally rethought. Despite live web-chat being integrated into various websites that alone clearly isn’t enough to diminish consumer concerns. The logical extension to this is to introduce a visual element, so that consumers can put a face to the brand and consequently have a personal assistant to help them through the purchase. This needn’t mean two-way video chat, but rather an immediate free call-back option, with a synchronised video stream online so that the customer can see who they’re talking to.”

Fuller adds: “Online consumers can be turned off quickly because it costs them nothing to exit one website and enter another. They will, therefore, choose a site that offers them the easiest and most enlightening experience and the one that makes them feel the most secure and re-assured. Having a friendly face ready to engage in conversation is inviting and makes the customer feel more engaged from the outset. Often, as indicated by the results in this research, it is the lack of the personal touch and the lack of a face to the business that undermines consumers’ trust in making a purchase.”

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