@rocknbilNov 29.2006 — #I'm really **really** interested in this too, but for specific reasons cannot post the link in a public forum as I mentioned [b][url=http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129446]here[/url].[/b] So I guess it's a catch-22 . . . .
We have so many successful orders, and the ones that are successful as well as my small group of "beta testers" say "no problems." But still people ditch!
But here are my current set of speculations. The logical possibilities:
1. We don't accept Amex. Unlikely, my research has found consistent data that indicates online Amex and Discover sales combined account for approximately 7-10% of online orders. But that's about our ditch rate too . . .
2. The bottom line - people get up to checkout and realize WHOAH! That much? "My husband will kill me!" (Many of our products only women will buy)
3. See #2, women as shoppers have a whole different set of shopping habits.
4. Cross-site shopping: One of the things I do is get several sites open and add items to a cart. If site A has all of what I'm looking for and site B does not, I will buy from site A even if the items are marginally more expensive. But see, this is only one scenario and my preference, if someone shops multiple sites they may have different criteria.
5. Personal preference:Think of all the reasons one might buy elsewhere and not from you, there may be notihng you can do about it. The colors of your site may just not be as pretty to the user! Who knows.
6. Shipping. We calculate our shipping very tightly and often lose out on it, overall we break even. But many shoppers think it's a retailer's responsibility to coddle them and should ship for free, who cares about your cost of operations. So sometimes even the smallest shipping might be killing an order.
This coming year we're revising our pricing structure to offer free shipping, and will see if that was "it."
7. Competitors sniffing you out.
8. Our cart has a login for returning customers/speedy checkout, but you don't have to create an account first - just fill in the billing/shipping info and pick a password. It's all very simple. But we wonder if this is confusing and people think they need to create an account or something. Our feedback says no, but these are the people that had no problem.
This stuff drives me nuts. [b][url=http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129446]See my other post[/url],[/b] I am interested in participants and will compensate.