Top or flop, buy or not buy.

One click: cancel your purchase. Nobody leaves as quickly as customers when shopping online. But why is that?

Why product data must rise from the basement child to a strategic success factor.

One click: cancel your purchase. Nobody leaves as quickly as customers when shopping online. But why is that?

Dr. Kai Hudetz from IFH Cologne has an answer: "Not only the requirements for the product itself, but also the requirements for the product data are becoming more and more complex." According to Hudetz, the data are extremely relevant today for buying or not buying. This means that if you as a retailer or manufacturer want to score points with your target group, you have to make product information an integral part of your marketing and corporate strategy.

An extinct dinosaur: master data management

But wasn't it all different in the past? Right, because many companies were still allowed to slumber in the basement of the master data management. They only had to meet the minimum requirements for operation, but were by no means used as a strategic marketing tool. That has changed with the online boom in recent years. The IFH Cologne therefore looks with concern at companies that have difficulties in setting up automated product information management and creating product experiences for their customers. According to IFH Cologne, the risk of abandoned purchases is now very high if customer expectations are not met.

"Customers can only be won and retained over the long term with complete, error-free and trustworthy product data," explains Dr. Kai Hudetz. Otherwise it means: abandon the purchase and away.

Get out of master data management! What's so hard about it?

Atrify and IFH Cologne wanted to know exactly. That is why we asked various retailers and manufacturers in our study in autumn 2020. Many people find it difficult to imagine a way out of the manual and time-consuming data processing of their products, these are the answers:

  • Our product data is so inconsistent that it cannot be automated.
  • My company is too conservative for that.
  • We need training again for new software.
  • We have always done it this way!

But if you drill again, a big BUT flashes. Because according to the responsible teams in the companies, it would be a great help not to have to enter everything by hand.

So much for the corporate side. It is high time that we now hear the voices of online customers as well. As part of the study, we asked 500 people why they abandoned online purchases within the last twelve months.

Why did you cancel your online purchase?

Here are the answers with the highest percentages:

  • Because the product information is incorrect or missing. (68%)
  • Because there is a lack of information on nutritional values. (58%)
  • Because customer questions and answers are not shown transparently. (58%)
  • Because there is no information about the manufacturer of the product. (57%)
  • Because the product is not adequately represented. (53%)
  • Because there are no product reviews from other buyers. (43%)

Overall, 77% of the study participants completed an online purchase in the last year. 23% have gone

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