What does $44 billion look like to companies with an ecommerce channel?

That is the question we asked ourselves this summer after reviewing the results of the 2010 survey of Online Transactions commissioned with Harris Interactive. The answer to retailers depends on what they’re selling, but we decided to have some fun and create visual representations that both answer the big question and also illustrate the survey results. (See graphics at bottom of full post.)

2010 survey of Online Transactions Summary:

The survey found that retailers who operate in the online channel may have lost more than $44 billion dollars over this past year as a result of transaction problems on their websites.¹ Since an increasing number of consumers prefer to shop online rather than in brick-and-mortar establishments, the impact of lost revenue from poor online experiences directly impacts businesses’ bottom lines. The study found that more than one-fourth of online shoppers (27 percent) would turn to an online or offline competitor if they encountered an online transaction issue.

Specifically, the survey found that, if online shoppers were to encounter a problem while attempting to conduct an online transaction, they would react as follows:

• 66 percent - contact customer service, including:
  • 53 percent - call customer service
  • 36 percent - email or log a web complaint with customer service
• 32 percent - abandon transaction entirely, including:
  • 27 percent - turn to a competitor

The survey also found that about 2 in 3 online adults (66 percent) have conducted a shopping transaction in the past year, and more than half (56 percent) have conducted a financial transaction such as managing their personal bank accounts, paying bills, and investing in the stock market. Nearly half of adults (49 percent) have conducted travel transactions online, while nearly 1 in 5 (17 percent) have conducted insurance transactions.

The potential for lost revenue when consumers have a negative online shopping experience is amplified by the rising use of social media, and the ‘echo chamber effect' caused by frustrated customers who voice their displeasure on social networks can significantly damage an organization's reputation. As we head into the upcoming holiday shopping season, it will be interesting to see whether or not businesses proactively identify website issues—a huge opportunity with which to recover some of that $44 billion in potentially lost revenue.

¹ Calculation based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Harris Poll, and the 2010 Tealeaf Survey of Online Transactions conducted by Harris Interactive.