New Survey Reveals 85.8% of Americans Won’t Buy From A Company With A Poorly Designed Website

We conducted a survey asking 1,500 Americans if they would purchase from a company with a poorly designed website. We used Google Surveys and targeted males and females between the ages of 18 to 65+ from coast to coast. We asked the following question with two possible responses:

Would you buy from a company that has a poorly designed, hard to navigate or outdated website?

• No.
• Yes.

The Average American Consumer Won’t Buy A Company With A Poorly Designed, Hard To Navigate, Outdated Website, Especially Women

When asked if they would purchase from a company that had a poorly designed, hard to navigate, or outdated website, an astounding 85.8% of respondents indicated that they would not.

When demographic filters were applied to the survey results specifically targeting females, the percentage soared even further to 90.1%. Females between 18 and 24 years old had the highest percentage of respondents who indicated “No”, with 92.6%.

Conversely, when demographic filters targeted men, 81.2% of all male respondents to the survey indicated that they would not buy from a poorly designed website. The male age bracket with the highest percentage who selected this response, where Young Professional men, between 25 and 34 years old, with 88.7%.

Suffice it to say in our digital age, it is crucial for companies to have a strong, positive web presence. Literally millions of companies have websites for consumers to choose from, making it imperative to stand out from the competition. Web design has a profound effect on consumers and their purchasing choices. Likewise, web development is also something that companies must pay close attention to in order to succeed.

In essence, trust is everything. According to a recent study from the Harvard Business Review, trust is the fundamental component that determines if a user will buy from a company website. Based on the research, consumers use their intuition when making purchasing decisions online. If a website makes visitors feel comfortable and safe, with clear prompts and relevant content, they are much more inclined to follow through with a purchase. Therefore, good web design is vital in fostering trustworthiness with potential customers.

Some American Consumers Are Inclined To Buy From A Company With A Bad-Quality Website, Especially Males 65+

Of the participants in the survey, 14.2% indicated that they would make a purchase from a company that had a bad-quality website.

Interestingly, that percentage increased further when demographic filters were applied to the results factoring only males, to 18.8%. Furthermore, when males 65+ were specifically targeted, the percentage increased to 21.9%. Conversely, and most compellingly, only 6.7% of females from the same age bracket indicated the “Yes” response – making this the demographic with the lowest percentage of participants who selected this response. Of all female respondents to the survey, 9.9% indicated that they would make purchases from a company with a bad-quality website.

Conclusion

Americans are far less forgiving than their Canadian counterparts. In fact, a similar survey conducted by Little Dragon Media, a Toronto-based agency, revealed more than 63% of Canadians wouldn’t buy from a company with a poorly designed website. Taking into account the fact that there are an astronomical number of company websites available for consumers to choose from, it is essential for a business to possess a high-quality website. In order for a company to truly stand out amongst the competition, its website must be well designed, easily navigable, and updated, thus making visitors feel both comfortable and safe. Ultimately, this will foster the imperative component of trustworthiness in a company and brand, making users far more inclined to follow through with a purchase, and potentially to become coveted repeat customers. Thus, increasing the growth of a company and its success.

Details About The Study And RMS Score

Sampling

Audience: Users on websites in the Google Surveys Publisher Network

Method: Representative

Age: All Ages

Gender: All Genders

Location: United States

Language: English

Frequency: Once

Root mean square error (RMSE) is a weighted average of the difference between the predicted population sample (CPS) and the actual sample (Google). The lower the number, the smaller the overall sample bias.