Trust and Online Shopping – What Drives You?

As the holiday season wraps up with end-of-the-year inventory clearance specials being promoted by many online retailers, early reports are that spending was up a little this year versus 2008.  Each year it seems that online shopping gains more ground in terms of dollars spent as well.  Shoppers point to the many conveniences like being able to find the best price, inexpensive or no shipping charges, easy transactions that don’t require dealing with traffic, in-store crowds, and the patience-wrecking check out lines.  In years past, this Santa has utilized a number of sites including those that are known as the traditional big-box giants as well as specialty retailers that offer expertise and a wider selection of unique gifts (get your mind out of the gutter, I am talking about motorcycling and outdoor adventure here).

As technology develops and makes it easier for marketers to present, promote, and sell and for consumers to research, compare, and buy online, the ever-lurking specter of identify theft is never quite vanquished is it?  Let’s face it, technology has to stay ahead of the nefarious high-tech scoundrels hacking, scamming, and outright stealing whenever the opportunity arises in the online market place.

Researchers continue to measure all the intricacies of consumption and new and emerging media is like a new and expanding frontier for them to observe, analyze, and publish their findings.  The issue of trust is vital to the well being of e-commerce as one might imagine and marketers are continually funding research to better understand consumers – the how’s, the why’s, and the how often’s.  Central to this research is finding out what puts consumers at ease – what factors facilitate transactions online?  After all, if consumers don’t trust the site for whatever reason, they won’t be divulging the information required to conduct business online that is for sure.

So what factors influence your decisions to shop and conduct transactions with particular retailers?  Conversely, what factors cause you to take pause and opt to shop elsewhere?  Here are some of the facets that impact my online shopping habits.

1. Aesthetics – A poorly designed site just doesn’t instill a lot of trust for me.  If the design is crude or unprofessional I tend not to tarry long on the site.
2. Navigatability – Actually, this is closely linked to the look of the site.  Usually a poorly designed site is harder to navigate.  Either I have a hard time finding what I want, or there are other issues like broken links, etc. that just diminish the credibility of the retailer in my opinion.
3. Suspect information – This happens a lot when I shop on eBay, especially when I am looking at a big-ticket item like electronics.  Of course the seller’s reputation and feedback are primary factors, but the content of their item descriptions also make or break it for me.  Content obviously lifted from a manufacturer’s web site is cause for concern.  Poor grammar, a lot of misspellings, and/or the obvious lack of ability to speak or write in coherent English and I am off to the next listing.
4. Pricing – One of the biggest advantages of shopping online is being able to shop for the best price.  But my radar goes off when I see pricing that is just to good to be true.  You cannot buy something for a fifth of the price unless it is a) stolen; b) damaged; c) a knock-off; d) a complete scam; or e) all of the above.  The online shopping experience is cluttered with what amounts to the “For Sale: antique Corvette in pristine condition.  $500 obo.” Of course the Corvette is being sold by a little old lady who has no idea what it is really worth.  I was born, but not yesterday.

There are others, but these are among the top factors that cause me to doubt the veracity or motives of online retailers.  Of course, sticking with reputable retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, and Borders to name a few really up the trust quotient.

What online factors drive your shopping patterns online?

Kind regards,

Chris Daniel