First impressions must count for e-commerce websites. The report noted that US consumer online sales are expected to pass $500 billion in 2020, and two-thirds of shoppers expect to make more online purchases in 2017 than they did in 2016. Consumers still prefer to shop using a desktop or laptop, especially for apparel, travel, home goods, electronics, and bill payment, but smartphone purchases surpass laptop and desktop purchases by 2% for digital products. Episerver also noted that shoppers ages 18 to 44 shop on smartphones more often than laptops and desktops or tablets.

Apparel and personal entertainment are the most popular categories for online shopping at 85%, followed by travel and digital products. Consumers also expect to see adapted online content based on their interests and purchase history for these categories, such as coupons based on their location. 35% of shoppers feel that brands do a poor job of personalizing the online shopping experience. Shopping for apparel online may have the edge over other categories due to the ability to compare prices. E-commerce websites lose most of their sales over pricing, followed by difficult-to-navigate websites, customers finding a more suitable product elsewhere, and difficult checkout processes. Inconsistent expectations also hinder business and stall repeat sales. The report found that most customers received an ad for a product that they would never purchase or the purchased product looked different in person than online. Three out of four consumers feel that product specifications are most important, followed by product reviews and images. Episerver closed the report saying, “In the race to convert and please shoppers online, brands must erase any preconceived notions that consumers are logging on only to purchase. This may be the final goal for most shoppers, but the journey to transaction is far from uniform. This is hardly surprising considering the diversity of consumers today.“ The digital marketing company added that brands must “develop consistent omnichannel content that’s personalized where and how shoppers want it.”