The True Cost of High Shipping

The upcoming online shopping season promises to be one of the biggest and best yet for Internet retailers. But that doesn’t mean all merchants will have a happy holiday. So what’s the biggest barrier for your digital presence?

According to a new study of 1,200 shoppers from credit card comparison website CreditDonkey, 34 percent of respondents said that high shipping costs prevent them from buying more on the Web. The survey also revealed some other important findings worthy of note, including:

- 33 percent view the inability to touch a product as a deterrent to buying a product online (To combat this, readers may want to explore one of the many emerging product showcase platforms.)

- 15 percent said waiting for merchandise prevents them from doing more online shopping

- 9 percent said they are afraid products will not match their description (another reason why focusing on creating compelling product descriptions matter)

As to why consumers shop online, 52 percent said convenience, while 28 percent indicated price and 13 percent listed product selection.