Dive Brief:

• About 39% of more than 1,000 consumers surveyed by Blue Fountain Media said they would think twice about using a product or service from a company if the provider’s website isn’t up-to-date and user-friendly.

• About 50% of respondents to the survey said that user-generated content, such as product reviews and photos, are helpful to them while shopping, and another 41% indicated they don’t mind retailer websites storing their data as long as they benefit from it, and the site doesn’t suffer a security breach.

• Among other favored website features, 56% of survey respondents said their favorite is notification when a product they were previously searching for is on sale, while 25% singled out follow-up communication about a product left in their shopping cart, and another 25% said discount codes were the most important website feature.

Dive Insight:

Customers like up-to-date websites, user reviews and sales — who knew? Some of the findings from this survey, called “Consumer Trends in Content and Commerce Web User Experiences,” may not come as much of a surprise, though overall it suggests shoppers may be paying much more attention to detailed aspects of retailer websites than retailers may think.

For example, they may be paying close attention to how easy it is to find and view product feedback and photos from other customers. A 2017 study from Bazaarvoice found that many customers are influenced by and act on the website content supplied by other customers, so retailers should consider how to make a comfortable home on their sites for user-generated content.

Also, while there was some indication from survey responses that a considerable number of consumers trust retailer websites with their data, there was also evidence of privacy concerns. For instance, 50% of respondents said they like personalized ads on social media based on their browser histories but are "wary" of how their data might be used, and 36% were “very wary” of how their data was being stored and shared online.

Ultimately, shoppers want all the valuable content, usage flexibility and personalization that comes with e-commerce as a digital experience, but they won’t shop on or share their data with just any website. Retailers need to make sure they continue working hard to earn every online visit, every instance in which a customer does share personal data, and every sale.