What annoys retail shoppers?

I saw a USA Today poll in the newspaper’s October 11, 2007 edition and saved it because I knew I wanted to address the topic in e(asy)-Shopping? The poll asked, “What annoys retail shoppers?” The answers are as follows:
Too little attention – 24 percent
Too much attention – 15 percent
Pressure to buy products – 12 percent
Difficulty with returns – 11 percent
Being treated rudely – 10 percent
Other categories – 28 percent
My question is, does online shopping help to reduce these ailments?

In my experience, most mainstream online shopping websites like www.amazon.com, www.bluefly.com, www.gap.com, etc., are easy to navigate. The prices listed are straight-forward, shipping costs are clear and the instructions for purchasing are foolproof. If you need more information about a product, you can visit the manufacturer’s website. When I shop online, I do not miss the sales people. And if the consumer has a question, the majority of e-commerce websites have 800 numbers or email addresses he or she can use to contact a customer service representative. An example I’d like to use here is my boyfriend’s experience looking for a flat screen television. He is obsessed with finding the best deal on the best LCD flat screen TV he can find. He visits www.amazon.com almost daily to look for good deals on three or four specific televisions. When he sees a new TV on www.amazon.com, he will visit the manufacturer’s website to see the specifications of the product and the price. He has emailed customer service representatives when he has a question, and usually receives a response with 24 hours.

I am never given too much attention when I shop online. Sometimes I will receive a follow-up email asking me to fill out a survey about my shopping experience. Also, some websites will evaluate what you purchase and suggest other products. This tool, used by www.amazon.com, can be helpful, but it is rarely a hindrance and easy to ignore. The most annoying part about shopping online to me is the massive quantity of emails each website seems to send out daily. For example, I get an email every day from www.bluefly.com and www.jcrew.com. Www.gap.com sends me emails about once a week, as does www.macys.com and www.bloomgindales.com. Yes, this can be annoying, especially when I want to quickly check my email and have to sift through many emails from various e-commerce websites. But it is not as irritating as some sales associates from department stores, clothing shops or electronic stores. It is a lot easier to delete an email than it is to ward of sales associates working off commission.

The worse part, I think, about shopping online is paying for shipping costs, especially when you send something back. Some companies accept returns in their retail stores. But other companies, like www.amazon.com and www.bluefly.com, do not have retail outlets, so consumers have to return things via mail. The return policies for these two e-commerce website are as follows:
www.amazon.com: You may return most new, unopened items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).
www.bluefly.com: For your convenience, we include a pre-paid merchandise return label with every order. At this time, this label is only valid for returns from the continental United States. We are currently unable to offer a pre-paid merchandise return label for international orders. If you use this label and opt for a refund to your Bluefly account, we will cover the shipping costs. However, if you use this label and instead request a refund to your credit card, a return shipping fee of $6.95 will be deducted from your refund. If you prefer, you may use any other return shipping method at your own expense.

Since consumers do not interact with sales people during online shopping transactions, the only real opportunity a consumer has to be treated rudely is if he or she contacts a customer service representative. I think I have done this only once in my nearly 7 years of participating in e-commerce activities.

All in all, it appears that shopping online can eliminate many of the negative experiences traditional shoppers go through.

[The poll was conducted by Accenture’s Institute for High Performance Business and included 1,300 consumers (the margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points).]