Ship To Zip Code Causing Customers to Get Mad and Leave

[knucklehead]

I charge tax if a customer's ship-to zip code is an ohio zip code. But...Most of my products do not actually ship, becuase they are download only...

The process of hacing the customer enter the zip code on the first screen causes LOTS of confusion. I seem to have problems half the time I am keying in an order for a customer. And one customer wrote me yesterday...

"THis should not force me to put in a shipping address when it's just being emailed. I almost clicked out of here and went somewhere else because the checkout part of this site is so frusterating. You guyys need to fix that."

I have suspected that I have lost customers for this reason and now I can confirm it.

Is there anyway of simplifying the check out process. It's the clunkiest checkout process I have ever experienced in my own online shopping experience...

[Jim]

The zip code is used to calculate tax and shipping rates if you are using a shipper like UPS,Fedex etc or a custom shipping api and if you are using the Tax by Zip option. If you don't use these the zipcode field won't display.

Most shopping carts I have used online don't even give you a final total including shipping and tax until I have entered my complete address and payment method. In this regard ShopSite is better because you only need a zip and you know what your shipping costs and tax cost are and a final total before entering any other personal information.

[knucklehead]

Is there any other way to tax based on state, other than by zip code?

Regarding: "Most shopping carts I have used online don't even give you..."

I think this is the reason customers and I find it so frustrating. It's different - not what we are used to when purchasing online. The thing is, does the shopping cart cause happiness or frustration. Even a 5% frustration rate can cause significant loss of revenue, and that hurts the merchant.

Customers don't know that they are putting the zip code in there for an important purpose. And if they put the wrong one in out of laziness or just by mistake, the next screen will punish them for it, making them GO BACK....no one likes to go back and start all over...

I hope you take this feedback to heart and re-think your cart-information-flow.

I could have put my dukes up with my customer, rolling my eyes and saying "you're just an idiot; pay attention during checkout and you would not have any problems."

But I didn't, I see a frustrated customer, who almost left my site without buying something that I worked hard to convince him to purchase. I want to know why a customer had a bad experience...is there a pattern, and if it is something I can prevent from happening again.

Now that I know - I have a responsibility to my company to fix it, or find a shopping cart that can give a fluid check-out experience. ShopSite is in the same position - put your dukes up or scrath your heads and ask "is our shopping cart costing our merchants revenue?"

I don't mean to be condescending...I just want this issue to be an issue with ShopSite.

I've already had to pay for a 3rd party search engine because the ShopSite search engine was telling customers that I did not have products they searched for...when I did have that product. The value of Shopsite is waning.

Your product should help use MAKE money, not cost us sales.

[knucklehead]

Another thing...not only is the ShopSite asking customer to enter thier ship-to zip on the first screen and then asking them again for during check out...

...but it also makes them enter thier billing information twice. Shopsite asks for bill-to name and address, then below that, where it asks for the credit card number, it makes the customer enter the cardholder's name (and company name) all over again.

It not business as usual, why is it that Shop Site wants to complicate the transaction after a merchant has worked so hard getting the customer to the point of sale?

Does anyone out there agree with me, or am I just an angry elf?

[actechbooks]

I agree with 'knucklehead' on most points...

For downloadable items: I agree that the shipping zipcode shouldn't be asked for. Isn't there another way to figure out if they are ordering from a certain state? The shipping address on the 2nd page shouldn't be mandatory either. Many of our customers put fake information in those cells anyway... The only useful information for us is the billing information, email address and phone number.

For tangible items:
I don't mind that the cart asks for the shipping zipcode on the first page as it allows the customer to see the grand total before they commit. BUT...the cart should never force the customer to go back a screen because that shipping zipcode has changed. Forcing the customer to go back is very confusing and has caused many of our customers to be frustrated with the system and give up. Some decide to call us to place their order rather than figuring out the shopping cart, but I imagine other customers give up all together and find another store to purchase their product from.

If the customer does change the shipping zipcode on the second page of the checkout (on purpose or inadvertently), the shipping fee, tax fee, and total should just readjust on that page and not force the customer to go back a screen.

On another note, the country, state, and zipcode that were inputted on the first page should automatically populate the shipping AND billing side of the address area on the 2nd page of the cart. Currently only the shipping zipcode and shipping country is populated on the 2nd page.

I agree that the billing name and company should not be asked for in the credit card area because it is already populated in the billing address section.

[bucolic]

I will have to add that we also have issues with customers who get confused when they enter a different Zip Code in the checkout screen than they did in the view cart screen. We have known this has been an issue for us for sometime but haven't figured out a way to avoid it.

As for the name on the credit card some people do have a different name on the card then what they enter in the billing address. We get this from time to time as the wife orders for John Smith and puts his name in the address but she is using her card under Mary Smith. Same address and everything matches just she wants the package to arrive under her husbands name and not hers.

[knucklehead]

I am glad to see others sharing my angst. I am not sure, bucolic, that I follow your OK with the bill to info, but I'm glad you chimed in.

I see silly features like Duba (the prices for thier resale stuff can be beat by anyone on the web - compare thier ipod prices) added while serious things such as search problems and checkout clunkiness go without attention.

Does anyone else think hate the redundant billto info and zip code issue? Have you had customers tell you it's confusing?

[Lynn K]

Does anyone else think hate the redundant billto info and zip code issue? Have you had customers tell you it's confusing?

Yes, I hate this as well and also believe I have lost customers as a result. I do ALOT of online shopping myself as I live in a remote area. I can only think of one site I use that asks for this and I find it annoying every time. PLEASE add me to the list of Shopsite users that wish to have this featured removed from the Cart screen and left to the actual checkout pages.

[Lynn K]

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[Trigger]

As a potential UK new user of Shopsite who has been testing the demo, I have to agree with this post. We intend to use the Country to determine flat / free shipping but not the ZIP (Post Code). I can see why many US clients would want this feature, but an option to disable the ZIP in the Cart for the rest of us would be great.