
Research says yes. A report from Google estimated that U.S. e-commerce sites lose $300 billion per year due to bad site searches. So, if your chatbot and site search suck, you are frustrating shoppers and losing sales. Liat Zakay, founder of Dondee search coined the term “shopstration” to describe this phenomenon.
… 60% of online shoppers find the most frustrating aspect of online shopping to be irrelevant search results. And 74% of shoppers claim it is inefficient text-based keyword searches to locate the correct product online. Forbes, In Online Retail, All Searches Are Not Equal, by Liat Zakay, March 12, 2020.
But these issues are not limited to e-commerce. Consumers are increasingly frustrated with shopping experiences in brick and mortar stores. Customers leave empty-handed when there are long check-out lines, or worse when nobody is around to answer their questions. Before COVID, research showed that more than 90% of consumers were frustrated shopping in stores – and now it’s even worse.
Contemporary online retailing is no longer just about selling and discounts, it’s about show and tell. Customers today want all the details so that they can compare products and make informed choices. Conversioncar, Conversion Optimization, 20 Reasons Why Your Online Furniture Store Has Low Conversions (+ ways to fix), December 13, 2021
Shopstatration Is On The Rise

Increasingly consumers experience “shopstration.” Shopper frustration is especially high when purchasing large-ticket, complex, or highly personal items (e.g. consumer electronics, luxury, fashion, home furnishings, automotive, communications, and health and beauty).
Frustration sets in when text and voice commerce searches result in hundreds of “answers,” most of which are irrelevant. So, users either hunt and peck for the desired information or leave. A study of search performance of the top 50 grossing e-commerce sites in the U.S. by Baymard Institute declared the state of e-commerce search to be “broken.”
Change The Game With Interactive Video Experiences
To win with digital natives, the Now Generation, brands, brick and mortar retailers, and e-commerce stores need more engaging and entertaining video-based experiences.
… one of the reasons for the rapid adoption of AI Avatars is recent research showing that people prefer seeing a human face when interacting with a company or making a purchase. Because more sales take place online than at retail locations, AI Avatars give transactions a human touch that a website or app cannot. The European Business Review, The Rise of AI Avatars in Business, March 16, 2022
Give Your Customers A Personal Shopping and Service Assistant, And End Shopstration
Your chatbot and site search suck. Don’t make shoppers hunt and peck for information. Never let customer questions go unanswered. And, don’t make shoppers wait to get the information they need when they need it. Even when you cannot be there in person, Vocinity shopping and service assistants can be.
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