February 5, 2025
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Are Expectations for E-Commerce Performance Rising?
Customer satisfaction with online retailers has dipped slightly, as over two-thirds of individual retailers experienced satisfaction declines in their online performance, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2025.
The study found that with the proliferation of mobile shopping, mobile apps for most retailers are receiving high marks for their quality and reliability, although the latter suffered a modest decline. Overall, 11 of 13 benchmarks experienced declines year over year.
“Growing expectations could be leading to modest declines in shopping aids like the use of product images, the helpfulness of customer reviews, and the usefulness of site-generated recommendations based on browsing and purchase history,” ACSI wrote in the study.
Among those benchmarks (listing 2025 survey results compared to 2024’s results):
- Quality of mobile app, 87 vs. 87
- Ease of checkout and payment process, 85 vs. 86
- Reliability of mobile app (minimal downtime, crashes, lags), 85 vs. 86
- Ease of navigation, 83 vs. 84
- Site performance, 82 vs. 82
- Usefulness of product images, 81 vs. 83
- Variety and selection of merchandise (including brand names), 81 vs. 83
- Availability of merchandise inventory (specific models, colors, sizes), 80 vs. 81
- Clarity and usefulness of product descriptions, 80 vs. 82
- Variety of shipping options, 80 vs. 82
- Helpfulness of customer-generated product reviews, 79 vs. 81
- Helpfulness of customer support (live chat, help pages, call center), 77 vs. 79
- Usefulness of site-generated recommendations of other products, 77 vs. 79
A survey of 4,000 global shoppers from Contentsquare taken in the fall of 2020 found only 15% describing themselves as “happy” with the online shopping experience, with 30% seeing themselves as “content.”
Some of the top causes of customer unhappiness when shopping online were when a site uses pop-ups and advertisements (49%), when a site or app crashes during checkout (48%), when a discount code doesn’t work at checkout (45%), and when a customer can’t find what they’re looking for (42%).
Checkout Frustrations With Online Shopping
A more recent survey of over 7,000 global consumers from Applause taken over the 2024 holiday season found that checkout is the most critical stage of the online shopping journey, with the majority (63%) claiming they abandon shopping carts after a maximum of two purchase attempts and another 18% only willing to try a third time. About half (48%) indicated they would leave a brand due to poor omnichannel shopping experiences, such as a failure to execute seamless buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), delivery lockers, and curbside pickup.
The Applause survey found mobile devices continuing to gain popularity as the preferred method of shopping: 72% of respondents reported that they prefer using a smartphone or tablet versus a desktop/laptop or voice-activated smart device — up from 68% in 2023 and 43% in 2020.
Mobile Shopping Shortfalls
A survey of U.S. consumers commissioned by Bryj, a developer of mobile apps, found the No. 1 consideration when downloading an app was time savings, cited by 68%; followed closely behind by simplifying their lives, 65%. However, the leading reason consumers delete mobile apps was found to be poor user experience (such as software bugs and slow loading times), 58%; followed by poor user interface, 56%; and poor security features, 54%.
Satisfaction with online shopping also depends on the category. Data from the February 2024 Auctane and Retail Economics report based on a survey of global consumers found the majority preferring to shop online for electronic devices; apparel; toys, books, and games; and furniture and home. Consumers were split on preferring online or in-store when shopping for categories such as health and beauty and DIY/gardening.
A survey of U.S. shoppers taken in July 2024 from PYMNTS found that 88% preferred in-person shopping for groceries.
BrainTrust
John Lietsch
CEO/Founder, Align Business Consulting
Lucille DeHart
Principal, MKT Marketing Services/Columbus Consulting
Frank Margolis
Executive Director, Growth Marketing & Business Development, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What are the obvious and less obvious pain points still around the online shopping experience?
Can you think of a few aspects of the online search, checkout, or post-purchase experience that could clearly use an upgrade to become more seamless?
Poll
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Customer expectations are higher across the board, not just in ecommerce. Part of it is a desire to extract maximum value for money off the back of much higher prices. Ultimately, this is making customers more finicky. The problem is that this trend coincides with a period when resources at retailers are under more pressure due to cost cutting and margin protection.Sadly, the two things do not make for good bedfellows.
Specifically with online shopping, from our data, the main pinch points are delivery speeds, out of stocks, and poorly functioning sites. All pretty bread and butter stuff.
Customer expectations have always been higher for ecommerce than physical stores, not just recently. Consumers expect a wider assortment, less out-of-stocks, personalized recommendations, and more. One-click checkout and 2 day shipping are now the norm, and no longer ‘nice-to-have’.
Where consumers are still unsure about their expectations with ecommerce is how AI will play a role in their Search, namely how customized a shopping trip will they experience. I myself cannot picture what the defacto norm will be for AI-led (not AI-powered) personalized shopping in the future, but I am curious to see the possibilities.
Now that customers are used to digital shopping, they have progressed from being curious to being frustrated. The more consumers acclimate to technology, the more they scrutinize the details. That said, brands do need to step up. With the shift to ecomm, more attention must be paid to product descriptions, consistency of attributes, clarity of sizing and ease of returns. In addition, retailers need to make sure their systems are truly seamless and not just “omni.” Having a front end experience for shoppers but a complex, disconnected integration backend will cause dissatisfaction.
Proliferation – Mobile Commerce accounted for roughly 60% of global ecommerce sales. Ecommerce accounts for nearly 20% of Global Retail Sales so that means Mobile Commerce is roughly 12% of global retail sales. I hope Statista and others aren’t wrong!
Regardless, there’s no denying mobile commerce’s importance. The challenge, as always, is to be hyper focused on giving customers what they want so that we can get what we want, “the sale” (not necessarily “the data”). The problem is that getting the sale and getting data aren’t always aligned. Take Guest Checkout. Companies load Guest Checkout with all kinds of “interruptions” to try to get that buyer to register for an account instead of using Guest Checkout. I’m not saying it’s wrong; I’m just saying that if a consumer chooses Guest Checkout it’s probably because they want the convenience and privacy it affords them; they just want to buy and run. It seems like that’s what the consumers polled in this article are saying. Therefore, those of us in Marketing and IT must deliver exactly that experience to ensure we get the sale (increase online conversion rates) and, if possible, get the marketing data we need to be better prepared to serve those customers in the future.
Thankfully, we all have the tech and marketing budgets of Amazon and Temu! Challenge accepted!
Crucial to note here that not all e-commerce categories are the same. Shoppers who happily will order their next laptop online may still prefer hands-on selection of their groceries – on most occasions.
That said, my Law Of Equivalent Experience states that for online shoppers, “The best service standards anywhere are instantly expected everywhere.”
That applies to every benchmark in the list above. Makes me wonder if the slight decline in satisfaction scores documented in the ACSI represents rising expectations, not sagging performance.
The experience must be easy, intuitive, and frictionless. That’s table stakes. Many, but not all, retailers get that right. Because digital/online retailing often takes emotion out of the experience, loyalty is based on the “easy, intuitive, and frictionless” concepts mentioned, along with predictability and consistency. Then there is the topic of hassle-free returns. All of this goes to creating the experience that gets high ratings and the customer to say, “I’ll be back!”
The struggle with online shopping would still be clunky search results, slow-loading pages, and checkout failures that drive customers away. Nothing is more frustrating than finding an item, only to realize it’s out of stock at checkout.
And post-purchase? Poor tracking, unclear return policies, and unhelpful customer support make it worse. Instead of adding more AI-driven recommendations, retailers should focus on fixing the basics.
This would involve smooth search, a seamless checkout, and a hassle-free return process. Until then, customers will keep abandoning carts and look elsewhere.
Many ecommerce shopping experiences are still not nearly as seamless and frictionless as they need to be to meet current consumer expectations. From product discovery to checkout to delivery or pickup options, customers want a quick, easy and personalized experience. This also applies across the omnichannel, which should be seamless from platform to platform. For instance, if a shopper starts their purchase journey by researching a product online, retailers should target them with a mobile coupon or a push notification with in-store location details that make it easy for them to continue that shopping journey.
One of the biggest areas retailers are still falling short on is product discovery. Keyword-matching technology, though great at its inception, can’t account for how customer searches have evolved, whether it’s ambiguous, long-tail or conversational queries. With the rise of AI-first product discovery, retailers should make tech stack adjustments that allow customers to have quality search experiences that produce hyper-personalized search results every time.
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Customer expectations are higher across the board, not just in ecommerce. Part of it is a desire to extract maximum value for money off the back of much higher prices. Ultimately, this is making customers more finicky. The problem is that this trend coincides with a period when resources at retailers are under more pressure due to cost cutting and margin protection.Sadly, the two things do not make for good bedfellows.
Specifically with online shopping, from our data, the main pinch points are delivery speeds, out of stocks, and poorly functioning sites. All pretty bread and butter stuff.
Customer expectations have always been higher for ecommerce than physical stores, not just recently. Consumers expect a wider assortment, less out-of-stocks, personalized recommendations, and more. One-click checkout and 2 day shipping are now the norm, and no longer ‘nice-to-have’.
Where consumers are still unsure about their expectations with ecommerce is how AI will play a role in their Search, namely how customized a shopping trip will they experience. I myself cannot picture what the defacto norm will be for AI-led (not AI-powered) personalized shopping in the future, but I am curious to see the possibilities.
Now that customers are used to digital shopping, they have progressed from being curious to being frustrated. The more consumers acclimate to technology, the more they scrutinize the details. That said, brands do need to step up. With the shift to ecomm, more attention must be paid to product descriptions, consistency of attributes, clarity of sizing and ease of returns. In addition, retailers need to make sure their systems are truly seamless and not just “omni.” Having a front end experience for shoppers but a complex, disconnected integration backend will cause dissatisfaction.
Proliferation – Mobile Commerce accounted for roughly 60% of global ecommerce sales. Ecommerce accounts for nearly 20% of Global Retail Sales so that means Mobile Commerce is roughly 12% of global retail sales. I hope Statista and others aren’t wrong!
Regardless, there’s no denying mobile commerce’s importance. The challenge, as always, is to be hyper focused on giving customers what they want so that we can get what we want, “the sale” (not necessarily “the data”). The problem is that getting the sale and getting data aren’t always aligned. Take Guest Checkout. Companies load Guest Checkout with all kinds of “interruptions” to try to get that buyer to register for an account instead of using Guest Checkout. I’m not saying it’s wrong; I’m just saying that if a consumer chooses Guest Checkout it’s probably because they want the convenience and privacy it affords them; they just want to buy and run. It seems like that’s what the consumers polled in this article are saying. Therefore, those of us in Marketing and IT must deliver exactly that experience to ensure we get the sale (increase online conversion rates) and, if possible, get the marketing data we need to be better prepared to serve those customers in the future.
Thankfully, we all have the tech and marketing budgets of Amazon and Temu! Challenge accepted!
Crucial to note here that not all e-commerce categories are the same. Shoppers who happily will order their next laptop online may still prefer hands-on selection of their groceries – on most occasions.
That said, my Law Of Equivalent Experience states that for online shoppers, “The best service standards anywhere are instantly expected everywhere.”
That applies to every benchmark in the list above. Makes me wonder if the slight decline in satisfaction scores documented in the ACSI represents rising expectations, not sagging performance.
The experience must be easy, intuitive, and frictionless. That’s table stakes. Many, but not all, retailers get that right. Because digital/online retailing often takes emotion out of the experience, loyalty is based on the “easy, intuitive, and frictionless” concepts mentioned, along with predictability and consistency. Then there is the topic of hassle-free returns. All of this goes to creating the experience that gets high ratings and the customer to say, “I’ll be back!”
The struggle with online shopping would still be clunky search results, slow-loading pages, and checkout failures that drive customers away. Nothing is more frustrating than finding an item, only to realize it’s out of stock at checkout.
And post-purchase? Poor tracking, unclear return policies, and unhelpful customer support make it worse. Instead of adding more AI-driven recommendations, retailers should focus on fixing the basics.
This would involve smooth search, a seamless checkout, and a hassle-free return process. Until then, customers will keep abandoning carts and look elsewhere.
Many ecommerce shopping experiences are still not nearly as seamless and frictionless as they need to be to meet current consumer expectations. From product discovery to checkout to delivery or pickup options, customers want a quick, easy and personalized experience. This also applies across the omnichannel, which should be seamless from platform to platform. For instance, if a shopper starts their purchase journey by researching a product online, retailers should target them with a mobile coupon or a push notification with in-store location details that make it easy for them to continue that shopping journey.
One of the biggest areas retailers are still falling short on is product discovery. Keyword-matching technology, though great at its inception, can’t account for how customer searches have evolved, whether it’s ambiguous, long-tail or conversational queries. With the rise of AI-first product discovery, retailers should make tech stack adjustments that allow customers to have quality search experiences that produce hyper-personalized search results every time.