Top 5 Online Holiday Shopping Obstacles

As the holiday season approaches, surfing the web for that perfect gift will be a task that a lot of shoppers engage in to avoid those annoying mall crowds. SURFERS BEWARE! There are frustrating obstacles even online shoppers must overcome. In ascending order are the top 5, most consumer-unfriendly aspects retailers MUST work out before the holiday season takes off.

5. Lack of Subscription Fulfillment. 1/3 of major online retailers do not deliver their first email within 2 weeks of subscription, while a minute 18% complete this task within 3 days. This results in a less enthusiastic shopper which in turn declines retailers selling opportunities.

4. E-mail Inconsistency. For most retailers, email programming is set up to deliver newsletters, or the featured item every week. Consistency is something consumers begin to rely on and appreciate.

3. Delayed Notification. How frustrating is it to see "50% off till Sunday" and you receive this time-sensitive email on Monday? Keep messages timely and content current.

2. Failed Sign-ups. Failure to sign-up to retailer's newsletters will result in searching elsewhere. Retailers, make sure your subscription page is working properly and gathering ht einfo you need. When it comes to online shopping, people have limitless options and can find replacements or alternatives almost instantly.

1. Poor Landing Pages. After hours of endless searching, you finally find that perfect gift. Excited and relieved to finally end your exhausting search, you click the add to cart or purchase button and it redirects you to a page that says "Page Not Found" error. And the search continues...

Obviously these issues don't just apply to the holiday shopping season but it sure does make all the difference when it comes to battling mall crowds versus making an effortless online purchase.