UK companies are losing 24% of their annual online revenue due to poor online customer experiences, according to a survey commissioned by Tealeaf and conducted by Econsultancy.
The loss amounted to about £14bn in 2010 amongst online retailers.
The survey revealed that almost one-fifth (18%) of businesses rate their understanding of the online customer experience as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, with only 4% classifying it as ‘excellent’.
Tealeaf said that the lack of understanding seems to affect sales, with the majority of companies saying they have ‘limited’ or ‘no understanding’ of why customers abandon a shopping cart (78%) or leave a site without converting (81%).
In addition, most of the business are reactive and rely on other channels to discover customer issues, with 76% most likely to learn about site problems as a result of calls to the customer service team or through customer emails.
MandMDirect.com CEO Steve Robinson said as consumers continue to flock to the Web, e-businesses need to improve the experience they receive through greater actionable insights.
"Failure to do so will render companies powerless in making informed site developments, which could reduce their competitive advantage as a result," Robinson said.
The survey highlighted that linking online and offline channels and sharing insights between them is also a major challenge for businesses, with only 3% describing the multichannel experience they provide as ‘excellent’.
Further, half of the businesses (49%) said that they have processes in place to prioritise and rectify the problems and issues customers face online, while a quarter (24%) rate it as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Respondents estimate that 15% of total inbound calls relate to website problems but, despite this, 68% fail to give call centre agents access to information about the online experience of individual customers.
The majority of companies (86%) say their call centre staff are able to escalate website issues to the right people in the business, while only a third (36%) measure the extent to which these problems are then resolved.
Tealeaf chief marketing officer Geoff Galat said the research demonstrates a clear link between online customer experience and revenue generation.
"Ebusinesses have much to gain from better online visibility, particularly at the bottom of the sales funnel, where conversion rates should be highest," Galat said.
"A poor online user experience, coupled with a lack of visibility and understanding, translates into a significant amount of lost revenue as well as added costs due to increased inbound enquiries."
