Customer satisfaction with online retailers has dipped slightly, as over two-thirds of individual retailers experienced satisfaction declines in their online performance, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2025.
The study found that with the proliferation of mobile shopping, mobile apps for most retailers are receiving high marks for their quality and reliability, although the latter suffered a modest decline. Overall, 11 of 13 benchmarks experienced declines year over year.
“Growing expectations could be leading to modest declines in shopping aids like the use of product images, the helpfulness of customer reviews, and the usefulness of site-generated recommendations based on browsing and purchase history,” ACSI wrote in the study.
Among those benchmarks (listing 2025 survey results compared to 2024’s results):
- Quality of mobile app, 87 vs. 87
- Ease of checkout and payment process, 85 vs. 86
- Reliability of mobile app (minimal downtime, crashes, lags), 85 vs. 86
- Ease of navigation, 83 vs. 84
- Site performance, 82 vs. 82
- Usefulness of product images, 81 vs. 83
- Variety and selection of merchandise (including brand names), 81 vs. 83
- Availability of merchandise inventory (specific models, colors, sizes), 80 vs. 81
- Clarity and usefulness of product descriptions, 80 vs. 82
- Variety of shipping options, 80 vs. 82
- Helpfulness of customer-generated product reviews, 79 vs. 81
- Helpfulness of customer support (live chat, help pages, call center), 77 vs. 79
- Usefulness of site-generated recommendations of other products, 77 vs. 79
A survey of 4,000 global shoppers from Contentsquare taken in the fall of 2020 found only 15% describing themselves as “happy” with the online shopping experience, with 30% seeing themselves as “content.”
Some of the top causes of customer unhappiness when shopping online were when a site uses pop-ups and advertisements (49%), when a site or app crashes during checkout (48%), when a discount code doesn’t work at checkout (45%), and when a customer can’t find what they’re looking for (42%).
Checkout Frustrations With Online Shopping
A more recent survey of over 7,000 global consumers from Applause taken over the 2024 holiday season found that checkout is the most critical stage of the online shopping journey, with the majority (63%) claiming they abandon shopping carts after a maximum of two purchase attempts and another 18% only willing to try a third time. About half (48%) indicated they would leave a brand due to poor omnichannel shopping experiences, such as a failure to execute seamless buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), delivery lockers, and curbside pickup.
The Applause survey found mobile devices continuing to gain popularity as the preferred method of shopping: 72% of respondents reported that they prefer using a smartphone or tablet versus a desktop/laptop or voice-activated smart device — up from 68% in 2023 and 43% in 2020.
Mobile Shopping Shortfalls
A survey of U.S. consumers commissioned by Bryj, a developer of mobile apps, found the No. 1 consideration when downloading an app was time savings, cited by 68%; followed closely behind by simplifying their lives, 65%. However, the leading reason consumers delete mobile apps was found to be poor user experience (such as software bugs and slow loading times), 58%; followed by poor user interface, 56%; and poor security features, 54%.
Satisfaction with online shopping also depends on the category. Data from the February 2024 Auctane and Retail Economics report based on a survey of global consumers found the majority preferring to shop online for electronic devices; apparel; toys, books, and games; and furniture and home. Consumers were split on preferring online or in-store when shopping for categories such as health and beauty and DIY/gardening.
A survey of U.S. shoppers taken in July 2024 from PYMNTS found that 88% preferred in-person shopping for groceries.
