In the United Kingdom, 46 percent of online shoppers feel overwhelmed by the amount of options and information on retail websites. And one in five shoppers say that they stop shopping when they get a pop-up in the initial moments of a session.
These data come from The Intent Gap, a report by Made With Intent, looking at the disconnect between what online shoppers want and the experience they get while shopping. A population of 2,000 online shoppers in the United Kingdom was surveyed in December 2024.
Manipulative tactics
According to the report, 63 percent of shoppers feel that ecommerce websites use inappropriate or manipulative tactics to influence purchasing decisions. This is not surprising, as research earlier this year already showed that most well-known marketplaces and social media platforms use dark patterns. These are designs that manipulate consumers into making impulsive purchases or into revealing more data.
Information at the wrong time
The report shows that the majority of retailers rely on information like time on site or number of pages viewed to trigger tactics or onsite experiences, like pop-ups, scarcity messaging or emails. However, these tactics do not connect to the customer journey. The fact that a shopper is on a certain page, does not necessarily mean that they are in a certain buying stage.
76% of shoppers would have a better experience if information is well-timed
Consequently, 76 percent of shoppers say that their experience would improve if they receive the right information at the right time. This would also make them more likely to shop in that online store again. Using real-time data on customer behavior would help retailers in knowing when to trigger pop-ups, with bigger success rates.
‘Move away from generic tactics’
“There is no secret sauce here. The more appropriate we are, the more impact we create. For ecommerce, this means moving away from generic tactics designed for everyone, but which only impact the few. It means listening and responding to people. Just like in real life”, said David Mannheim, CEO at Made With Intent.
