Why your items aren’t selling online and what to do about it

Have you ever thought about what kind of barriers your website might have, to prevent people from buying from you online? Today I'm breaking down 8 things on your website that could be creating barriers to sale!

Image credit: Room 8 Interiors

1) No price on the item e.g POA

This is a BIG one and it's also very common, having POA on your stock creates multiple barriers, such as;

• People can often be hesitant to ask for the price in case it is out of budget for them, and if it is out of their budget, that can cause embarassment for them.
• They may go on to buy something else whilst they are waiting to find out how much an item is
• In today's impulse driven society, any information that isn't readily available can be a put off to potential buyers of luxury purchases, such as Antiques, Art & Vintage items, are very emotional purposes and often bought on impulse, but having to wait to find out the price can give people time to reconsider and change their minds

2) Cost of delivery e.g knowing how much it is, or free delivery

Offering free delivery on your website can increase your sales by a whole 10%! So it is defintely worth thinking about, but just being very transparent about your delivery rates in general will take down that barrier! If you don't have free delivery, we would suggest having a page on your website outlining the delivery rates, so people don't need to go all the way to the checkout to see what they would be charged for delivery!

3) Not being able to pay online

This of course is an obvious one. When browsing online, people want to be able to just buy it there and then and cut out the middle man to avoid delays and faffing about. However when you don't offer this service, chances are people will look elsewhere for something similar just to see whether they can buy it directly online rather than having to get in touch with you or wait for your response.

4) Decent images and being able to get a feel for the item as if they were viewing it in person

This is a super big barrier. With Antiques, as we all know they're a very special and emotional purchase and so if your images are blurry and there aren't any close ups, along with there being a lack of images then you cannot really get a feel for the item that you're buying. You need to ensure that your photos are as clear as day and really give you the feeling you're there in person with the item.

Antiques are often an emotional purchase to the customer needs to be able to make an emotional connection, and if they are waiting a lengthy amount of time just to find out how much the item or shipping is, the emotion dies, they lose interest and you lose the sale.

5) Insufficient information such as leaving off dimensions, condition etc

As mentioned above, more and more people are of the mindset that they want things now, now, now! So if they're looking at a table that they LOVE but they can't find out how big it is, what the condition of it is like or what period it's from without having to contact you first that's a big put off. It also may limit the trust that they have in you and your business which is a massive factor in repeat custom.

6) We live in an impulsive society - so the longer something takes and the more impatient someone gets the less likely they are to buy

I can't stress this enough... The time of online shopping and instant gratification is now! If someone sees something that they want, they want it now. They don't want to have to wait to get basic information about the item that they're interested in and it would also help if they could just buy and pay right there and then, to secure their purchase and get the item into their home!

If someone has to enquire over your website and wait for you to come back to them, they're more likely to abandon the sale, or like I said find someone else who provides a quicker service for them.

7) There’s no contact information

Can you imagine how annoying it must be to find something that you love and but there's no phone number or even an email address to contact the dealer?! Would you put your trust in someone who can't even provide a phone number?

I've seen people leave their contact information off the website, which we strongly advise against because it can also result in people losing trust in you and your company, which of course you don't want as that is yet another barrier!

8) There’s no location

This comes under the same umbrella as the contact information. It's hard to want to put your trust into a company that doesn't even list a location, and it's even harder to give them your money. So even if you trade from home, we would recommend at least putting the area and the city that you're located in, just to create that extra trust factor!

Conclusion

It's a tough world selling online, and we like to help our clients make selling online as easy as possible. So why not start with removing the barriers in front of your clients, that are preventing or deterring them from buying directly from your website.