Common E-commerce customer complaints and how to address them

As an online merchant, giving your customers the best experience should be one of your top priorities. Sadly, there are some circumstances where having irate or unsatisfied customers is inevitable. To help you deal with situations like this, we’ve listed down some of the most common customer complaints in E-commerce. Plus, we also included tips on how you can address them! 

Out of stock items

There are moments when your customer is really excited to buy a certain product, but it’s out of stock. Though this can’t be helped at times, it can cause your customer to feel frustrated. This is especially true if it happens during peak seasons like Christmas or Halloween, or if it’s something that’s constantly unavailable.

How to address the situation: First, make sure you give your customers the option to get notified once the items they want are back in stock. You can easily do this via email. 

This is just a quick fix for this common customer complaint though, and the best thing to do is to analyze your inventory management. How often do you run out of stock for certain items? Are there buying patterns you can take note of when restocking? Taking these things into consideration can help you prepare for the future and avoid complaints about “out of stock” items. 

Lack of order updates 

Once a customer checks out an order, he or she probably wants to constantly know the status of the package. Has the store received the order? Has it been packed? Picked up from the warehouse? Is it in transit? 

Knowing a package’s status becomes even more necessary if the customer needs their products ASAP. If the customer doesn’t get timely updates, chances are he or she may start feeling agitated or impatient with the order. This might eventually lead to a complaint. 

How to address the situation: The key to addressing this complaint is transparency. Make sure you communicate with your customers as often as you need to. Send them messages as soon as you’ve received their orders on your selling platform, and give them ways to track their package. This way, they’re also ready to receive their packages once they arrive.

Their package is late

One of the most common customer complaints is late packages. It’s something that can easily anger customers, especially if their order was time-bound. Sometimes, situations like typhoons or other natural calamities hinder you from sending packages out on time. However, other reasons for late delivery are avoidable, and these are the pain points that you should be addressing as a merchant. 

How to address the situation: First, make sure to notify your customers as soon as possible if you know their packages will be delivered late. You should also be ready to provide service recovery – something like giving them freebies or a discount code for their next order. This can help encourage these customers to become repeat shoppers. 

To lessen the instances of late deliveries, you should also look into partnering with a reliable courier. If they offer same-day or next-day deliveries, even better!

The item they got is damaged or incorrect

Your customer excitedly opens their package, only to find a damaged product or worse, a product they didn’t order. It’s easy to see why they can get frustrated, right? In this situation, it’s only natural that they raise this issue with you.

How to address the situation: A big part of going about this scenario is providing service recovery. Apologize for the hassle this experience has caused them, and offer to ship a replacement or give them a refund. 

This is also a good lesson in the way you pack your items; you must do so with care, especially if they’re fragile. If you have a logistics partner for this, then it’s best to make sure that they pack and hand off each package carefully and efficiently. 

Poor customer service

One thing that your customers will always want to feel is that they are heard. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re ready to address their questions and concerns. If a customer feels that a store doesn’t care about their shopping experience, then it can cause them to complain about it. Worse, if they were already irate and they don’t get proper customer service, then you might just lose them as a customer altogether.

How to address this situation: The key to solving this common customer complaint is keeping your communication channels open. Have ways wherein customers can easily contact you, whether it’s via social media, text, or email. 

Also, no one expects you to answer a query the second it’s sent, but make it a point to reply to customers within an hour or two. This way, they’ll see that sales aren’t the sole focus of your business – you care about your customers too!

The checkout process is tedious

Last but not least on our list of common customer complaints is having a complex checkout process. Online shopping should be convenient, easy, and fast. That’s why one sure way to deter customers from completing their purchases is having a complicated checkout process. Additionally, a lack of payment options during checkout can be another discouraging factor.

How to address this situation: Have customers fill out only the most necessary fields for their orders. It would also be useful if you include an option to remember their details for future orders, or a software that can automatically fill in their shipping information. 

You should also provide diverse payment options, from debit/credit cards to e-wallets and even Cash on Delivery. This will help make the checkout process more convenient for your customers.

Now that you know these common customer complaints and how to address them, you can surely provide better service to your customers. If you need help with that, or with any other aspect of your online business, then Payo is the answer!

Payo’s goal is to make E-commerce as simple and easy as it can be for merchants. From taking care of your Warehousing and Fulfillment process to helping you with Marketplace Optimization, we’re with you every step of the way. Plus, we take care of your customers, too! Like you, we want them to have a pleasant E-commerce experience.

Ready to scale your business and have more repeat customers? Sign up with us today or send us a message at [email protected]. We’d be happy to get in touch!