More than 20% of online shoppers cite bad site design and navigation as a primary reason for abandoning a cart or choosing simply not to check out with an individual retailer. Further contributing to conversion issues are leading marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, where consumers have become accustomed to a particular way of shopping, a large part of why more than half of them begin their online product search on those platforms.
Independent stores are losing out on mindshare here –– and while search engine optimization helps drive the other half of online shoppers who begin their product search on Google, one thing is abundantly clear: the function of individual online stores has fundamentally changed.
