To set this up properly, I want to reference an article I wrote for rAVe back in January of 2024. In that article I spoke about the need for a new sales approach in this day of parity, commoditization, and online ordering. I cited an alarming statistic from salespeople research finding “96% of prospects do their own research before talking to a human sales rep — and 71% prefer to just do their own research instead of talking to a rep”. It was further found that “over 70% of those decisions are made sans a salesperson’s involvement.” The buyers tend to believe they know enough so they don’t think they need a salesperson to guide them. In other words, whether they know it or not (and to a certain extent either way) they are buying blindly online. Harsh? Yes, but stay tuned and I will explain what “blindly” results in. But first there is more data to support the focus of this article…
The latest research from Contensquare interviewing a cross section of buyers is more alarming. Their work shows that “only around 15% are happy with their online shopping experience, indicating that a significant majority (around 85%) are at least somewhat dissatisfied with their online purchases”. They go on to state that “A large percentage of buyers (around 80%) are likely to stop doing business with a company after a poor online buying experience.”
There is a myriad of reasons that contribute to what is formally called post-purchase dissonance (aka. dissatisfaction) but the three that stand out are:
- Poor websites (design, content, navigation, responses)
- Lack of physical interaction with products and people
- Unmet expectations about the product, service, or delivery they receive.
Buyers go to a website and often have a misguided sense of security with so-called plug and play technologies. In their minds there is no need for further information. They believe what they order will all work seamlessly in their system. Suffice it to say many are unaware of what is lurking in the shadows (and maybe missing) and the attendant risks and downsides.
In my original article I recited Gartner sourced research data. In their “Purchase Completion Research” study, they found that 40% of buyers preferred self-service digital commerce, 32% traditional rep-led, and 28% rep-assisted digital commerce. The clear trend was to self-service digital but… drum roll please, they found that 43% of those who favored self-serve digital suffered “purchase regret” versus less than half that on traditional rep-led and even less than that for rep-assisted digital commerce. Translated the data shows that buyer satisfaction is most likely achieved in rep-assisted digital commerce! File this under a continuing need for sales rep involvement but in a different way than ever before.
Before I proceed, let me be clear. Nobody will be able to turn back the tide of buying online, nor should we want to. The benefits of productivity, time savings, and the ability to do research online into a given product or service are invaluable and cannot be ignored. The point is to make this one “tool” in our purchasing toolbox and be aware of the unseen, hidden, or ignored risks and downsides. This begs the question as to what are the downsides and causes of dissatisfaction in what Gartner calls “self-service digital”.
Let’s explore what we found are the three biggest causes of post-purchase dissonance (aka. dissatisfaction).
Poor websites
Most experts agree that what makes a “poor” website is a combination of poor design, slow loading times, difficult navigation, lack of mobile optimization and finally, poor content. For an effective website experts tell us to:
- Define your goals and target audience
- Invest in a professional design
- Optimize for search engines
- Craft engaging and informative content
Caveats on “poor” websites specific to AV and digital signage:
- Poor navigation
- Overload of superfluous information (aka. marketing)
- Misleading, insufficient and inaccurate information
- Lack of comparative data
- Lack of compatibility information
- Poor response to inquiries
At the top of our list is poor navigation. Steve Krug in his iconic book on website design entitled “Don’t Make Me Think” tells us that navigation is the number one problem. He goes on to explain that the more drop-down menus necessary to get the information you need will result in the website being underused or even ignored. The negative effects of poor navigation, too much marketing hype, and not enough “factual” information reduces the ability to make an educated and informed buying decision. Added to this is…
Lack of physical interaction
There is no substitute for physical interaction with products, , which is a key element often missing in the online shopping experience. The touch and feel plus the ability to use the item in your application cannot be understated. Look at a company like Amazon—people buy multiples of a product just to see, feel, and judge it, returning those that don’t meet their expectations. This highlights one of the significant online shopping problems: the inability to physically interact with the product before purchase.
Perhaps the biggest contributor to dissatisfaction with those in AV, IT, and digital signage is the lack of human interaction and inability to communicate with real human beings with expertise in the field that can speak to what works and what does not. This all results in….
Unmet expectations
This may be about the product, information provided, service, or delivery of what is received. Meeting or not meeting expectations can contribute to major online shopping issues. The combination of the website, hands-on experience, and communication with experts to ensure buying the right thing is central to meeting expectations. If you don’t someone else will.
Conclusion
If a buyer knows exactly what they want and need, and it can be accessed online then this may be the most efficient approach. This is especially true with consumables used on a regular basis but for more complex purchases this may not be the best path. Keep in mind what a buyer thinks they want may or may not be what they need. This is especially true if the purchase is complex like an AV, IT, or digital signage products that are part of a system intended to work seamlessly together. If there are questions on models, compatibility, system integration, testing, trouble shooting, and more… then it is time to get someone with expertise involved. Circling back to Gartner’s research, a combination approach of digital and live sales help will yield the most satisfaction.
In our connected world of AV, IT, and digital signage we need great websites that are purposely designed with buyers' online shopping experience in mind. Not how we think they should use the website but how they want and will use it. This must be backed up by easy access to true experts who can help navigate buyers in the right direction. As the formula states, meeting expectations equals gratification, and results in loyal customers, and repeat business. Truly win/win.
