Recognising & Resolving Negative Online Shopping Experiences

Negative online shopping experiences are bound to happen. At some point, every shopper has at least one bad experience (but probably more). On the flip side, even the best online shops are going to have some customers who have had negative experiences. Whether it’s a one-time issue or a pattern, businesses need to recognise these experiences in order to remedy them.

Statistics on negative online shopping experiences

Let’s have a look at some numbers related to negative shopping experiences.

How many shoppers have had negative shopping experiences

According to a 2024 report from Celigo, 79% of UK shoppers (and 88% of US shoppers) said that online retailers failed to meet their expectations at least once in the past year. Their biggest frustrations stemmed from increased prices, late deliveries, and excessive shipping costs. Worth noting is that Gen Z reported the highest levels of dissatisfaction (85% in the UK).

Sharing negative experiences with others

Shoppers with negative experiences are also quite willing to share their negative experiences with others. US Shoppers in a Statista survey were asked when they last told someone about a negative experience they had with a product or brand. These were the results:

• Today (6%)
• In the past 2 weeks (20%)
• In the past month (19%)
• Within the past 3 months (16%)
• Within the past 6 months (11%)
• Within the past year or more (15%)
• Never (13%)

Customer loyalty takes a hit with negative experiences

According to an Emplifi survey of over 2,000 consumers in the UK and US, 86% of consumers will leave a brand they’ve been loyal to after two to three negative experiences. 49% of the same respondents have said they actually did this at least once in the past 12 months for that exact reason.

A PWC survey showed that globally, 32% of consumers would abandon a brand after just one poor experience.

Recommended reading:
Increasing Customer Loyalty: Stats & Tips

Identifying negative experiences in your online shop

Individual negative experiences should be relatively easy for you to spot. Consumers do like to complain on a variety of platforms, so make sure you have eyes and ears everywhere.

In addition to your standard customer service team, you should have someone that regularly reads through customer reviews. You should also instruct social media teams to report any negative experiences by other users on all major platforms (this includes monitoring branded hashtags).

Although these teams might coordinate to remedy some individual cases, they should also aim to recognise patterns and share this information with management. For example, if the social media team notices they get a lot of messages about delivery issue, they need to communicate this to the appropriate team.

If you collect a lot of customer reviews, with the right provider, you can analyse those reviews to identify patterns. If certain issues pop up a few times, you can be aware of the issue rather quickly.

With the Trusted Shops Sentiment Analysis, you can do exactly that: analyse hundreds of reviews instantly to identify both positive and negative patterns. Improving your online reputation has never been easier.

The most common negative customer experiences

We’ve acknowledged that negative experiences happen, even to the best shops. But what is a negative experience exactly? Sure, you know it when you see it. Still, we can see some of the most common ones to look out for and a few you might not have thought about.

• Long deliveries: Is something going on with the logistics provider you work with? Does it make sense to change to a different company? Otherwise, you might want to update your website’s info regarding expected delivery times. Giving users a realistic timetable might already improve their experiences.
  
  
• Poor customer support: Is your customer service team meeting your customers’ expectations? Do you outsource your customer service? Consider a deep dive into the methods your team is using to close customer cases.
  
  Additionally, make sure your customer support team responds in a timely manner. That Emplifi survey we mentioned before showed that 52% of consumers expect brands to respond to their inquiries within an hour.
  
  
• Poor quality products: Whether your product images or product descriptions are inaccurate or the longevity and product quality are lacking, it might make sense to look at your product line. Is it time to find new suppliers? Collecting product reviews are a good way to differentiate which products are creating happy customers and which ones are doing the opposite.
  
  
• High prices: If your prices don’t match the quality of your goods, you’re going to get some negative reviews. Finding the right pricing strategy can be tricky. You’ve got to find the right balance for your brand.

Responding to customers who have had a negative experience

Knowing how to respond to negative reviews and feedback publicly is an underrated skill. Many potential shoppers search out negative reviews to see what issues the brand/products have, but also to see how shops respond to that negative feedback. It gives them an insight into your customer service (and the customer experience as a whole).

Whether you reply to negative experiences privately (email) or publicly (reviews or social media), you’ll want to do it in the right way. Keep the following points in mind:

• Be professional: Don’t ever lose your cool. Other readers expect the customer to be upset, but the business should always respond professionally.
  
  
• Respond quickly: Don’t let too much time pass before replying to the customer.
  
  
• Show empathy: You don’t have to apologise for everything, but sometimes saying something like “I’m sorry to hear that you feel that way. I totally understand…” can go a long way in showing empathy and calming an upset client down.
  
  
• Gather as many details as possible: Make sure you get the details. Not only will you be able to investigate the issue better, but you’ll also make your customers feel heard and taken seriously.
  
  
• Offer solutions: Focus on the solution, whether it’s a refund, an exchange, or whatever.
  
  
• Stay communicative: You may not be able to solve the issue right away, but make sure your customer knows you’re working on the issue and will get back to them shortly. Then, make sure to follow up on your promise. Following up after the issue makes customers feel cared about as well.

Conclusion

Remember, whether you’re dealing with individual issues or working to resolve a chronic issue, it’s important to be present where your customers are. Be sure to give them a place to air their grievances (like a review platform), but you need to also be where they are. With the right tools and right team processes, you’ll be able to keep your customers happy and improve customer loyalty and your online reputation simultaneously.