eCommerce customer experience: Mistakes and fixes

Most e-commerce brands don’t lose customers because their products are terrible. They lose them because the experience around those products is slow, confusing, generic, or inconsistent.

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, refers to buying and selling online, enabling businesses to reach customers globally through digital channels.

A page takes too long to load, a mobile screen is hard to use, a chatbot gives a robotic answer with no way to reach a human, or a post-purchase email ignores a support issue that happened yesterday. None of these problems looks dramatic in isolation, but together they quietly kill growth.

At the same time, the way people discover and evaluate brands is changing. Shoppers don’t just rely on Google search results; they read snippets in AI overviews, ask assistants for recommendations, and talk to your brand through chat, messaging, and social DMs.

Many customers now shop online through e-commerce websites, which require a stable internet connection to browse products, place orders, and complete transactions.

That means customer experience is no longer just about “looking polished.” It’s about being fast, clear, trustworthy, and conversational in all the places customers and AI systems look for answers. E-commerce websites are especially important as the primary platform for online shopping.

This article walks through 11 common e-commerce customer experience mistakes, how to fix them.

What is eCommerce customer experience, and why does it matter

E-commerce customer experience is the sum of every interaction a shopper has with your online store, from the moment they land on your website to the support they receive after making a purchase.

It covers everything: how easy your site is to navigate, the clarity of your product information, the speed and security of your payment processing, and the helpfulness of your customer service.

In today’s crowded online marketplace, a positive customer experience is what sets successful online stores apart.

Different business models in e-commerce, such as B2B, B2C, or subscription-based, can significantly influence how businesses approach and deliver customer experience.

When you prioritize customer experience management, you’re not just making customers happy; you’re building customer loyalty, increasing customer satisfaction, and fueling business growth.

As customer demands continue to evolve, businesses must continually adapt their customer experience strategies to meet changing expectations and stay competitive.

Satisfied shoppers are more likely to return, recommend your store to others, and become loyal customers, all of which drive revenue and help your online business thrive.

Don't miss: "AI agents in customer experience: The next CX revolution"

Understanding the eCommerce customer journey

The e-commerce customer journey is a series of interconnected steps that potential customers take as they interact with your online store.

It starts with awareness: often sparked by online advertising, social media, or search engines, where shoppers first discover your brand.

M-commerce is also an important channel, allowing customers to engage with your store and products directly from their mobile devices.

As they move into the consideration phase, customers expect clear navigation, detailed product information, and a seamless browsing experience.

The purchase stage is where easy payment processing and a frictionless checkout are critical. It is essential to offer secure options for customers to pay online, ensuring trust and convenience during the transaction process.

But the journey doesn’t end there: post-purchase experiences, such as responsive customer service, hassle-free returns, and engaging loyalty programs, play a vital role in building strong customer relationships.

By understanding and optimizing each stage of these customer journeys, online stores can deliver exceptional customer experiences that turn first-time buyers into repeat customers and brand advocates.

Standalone websites play a key role in providing a dedicated brand experience, setting your store apart from marketplaces and social platforms.

Developing a customer experience strategy

Developing a customer experience strategy is essential for any e-commerce business aiming to deliver exceptional customer experiences, foster customer loyalty, and drive sustainable business growth.

In today’s competitive e-commerce industry, customers expect more than just a functional online store; they want seamless, personalized experiences at every stage of their customer journey.

A successful customer experience strategy starts with a deep understanding of your customers’ expectations, preferences, and pain points.

This means actively gathering and analyzing customer data from all online channels: your ecommerce website, mobile devices, and social media platforms.

By mapping out customer journeys, you can pinpoint friction points and opportunities to deliver a more positive customer experience.

To stand out, e-commerce businesses should leverage technologies like artificial intelligence and data analytics to deliver personalized experiences.

This could include tailored product recommendations, dynamic offers, and content that aligns with individual customer preferences.

The goal is to make every interaction feel relevant and valuable, whether customers are browsing on their phones, shopping via your online store, or engaging with your brand on social media.

Prioritizing customer satisfaction is key. Ensure your online store is easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and offers a smooth checkout process with multiple payment options.

Fast, effective customer support: whether through live chat, AI agents, or responsive help centers, it builds trust and encourages repeat purchases, turning satisfied customers into loyal customers.

Brand perception also plays a crucial role in customer experience management. Consistency across all touchpoints: website, email, social, and support, reinforces your brand’s reliability and commitment to customer obsession.

Cultivating a company-wide focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences ensures that every team member, from marketing to support, is aligned with your customer experience strategy.

Insightful read: "Mastering eCommerce 2026 with AI Agents"

11 eCommerce customer experience mistakes brands make

Shoppers forgive a lot, but not slow sites, confusing navigation, or robotic support.

These tiny CX gaps add up to big revenue leaks. Improving customer experience not only reduces churn but also drives higher online sales across various channels.

1. When your store loads slowly, everything else breaks

A beautiful site that loads slowly is still a bad experience.

Why it’s a problem

• Every extra second of load time increases bounce risk.
• Slow pages hurt SEO and your chances to appear in AI-powered answers.
• Laggy PDPs and carts make even the smartest chat or AI agent feel sluggish.
• Slow ecommerce sites lead to higher bounce rates and lost sales, negatively impacting customer experience and conversions.

How to fix it

• Compress and lazy-load images; use modern formats like WebP/AVIF.
• Minify and combine CSS/JS; remove unused apps and heavy scripts.
• Use a CDN and regularly audit with tools like Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights.
• Prioritize Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) to keep both people and search engines happy.

2. When mobile commerce is an afterthought, customers quietly leave

Mobile often drives the majority of e-commerce traffic. If your store is “desktop-first,” you’re leaking revenue.

Why it’s a problem

• Tiny font sizes, hard-to-tap buttons, and cluttered layouts kill conversions.
• Pop-ups that cover the entire screen on mobile frustrate users.
• Poor mobile UX makes your brand less likely to be recommended.

How to fix it

• Design mobile-first:
  1. Simplified navigation
  2. Thumb-friendly CTAs
  3. Easy filters and search
  4. Minimize form fields on checkout and account pages
• Test top journeys: homepage → category → PDP → cart → checkout on multiple devices.
• Place chat/AI widgets where they’re accessible but not intrusive.

3. When navigation and search don’t match the customer journey

If visitors can’t figure out where to go or your search results feel random, they leave.

Why it’s a problem

• Users bounce from category and search pages that don’t clearly answer intent.
• Your support team gets more “Where can I find…?” questions.
• AI crawlers struggle to associate your site with topics or intents.
• Poor navigation disrupts the buying journey.

How to fix it

• Simplify your menu structure with shopper-friendly labels.
• Improve internal search:
  1. Typo tolerance
  2. Synonyms (e.g., “trainers” vs “sneakers”)
  3. Filters matching customer thinking (size, fit, skill level, compatibility)
• Create helpful collection pages and guides.
• Optimize each step of the purchase journey.

Where modern agents fit

• Shoppers ask natural questions like “suggest me a summer party dress under $200”.
• An AI agent like Skara can understand intent and give tailored suggestions.

4. When product pages feel thin and untrustworthy

Your product detail page is where customers decide “buy or back button.”

Why it’s a problem

• Vague descriptions and limited images create doubt.
• No reviews or social proof reduces trust.
• Incomplete info hurts conversions.
• Answer engines prefer rich, complete PDPs.

How to fix it

• Use high-quality visuals (multiple angles, zoom, lifestyle shots, video).
• Write descriptive copy covering:
  1. Who it’s for
  2. How to use it
  3. Materials, care, compatibility, sizing
• Surface trust elements:
  1. Reviews and ratings
  2. Clear shipping and returns info
  3. Guarantees or warranties
• Use purchase history for personalized recommendations.
• Add short FAQs using real customer questions.

AI agents can use this richer content to reduce pre-purchase anxiety.

Must-read: "Why shopper-led AI is the future of online shopping?".

5. Choosing tools that don’t work well together

If your e-commerce, CMS, CRM, support, and marketing tools don’t integrate, you create friction.

Why it’s a problem

• Duplicate customer records and out-of-sync orders.
• Support agents lack full customer context.
• Marketing campaigns ignore recent behavior.
• AI agents give partial or outdated answers.

How to fix it

• Audit your current stack and map data flow.
• Choose the CRM as your “source of truth” for:
  1. Contacts and companies
  2. Orders and deals
  3. Tickets, emails, calls, chats
• Use tools with native integrations and open APIs.
• Connect AI agents to both ecommerce platform and CRM.
• Prioritize integration for business customers with complex needs.

When tools cooperate, the experience feels smoother for teams and customers.

If you are planning to choose the right CRM and Conversational AI Agent, check out how Salesmate CRM and Skara’s AI agents for eCommerce can help.

Why Salesmate CRM + Skara AI Agent supercharge eCommerce CX

Salesmate CRM and Skara AI work together to eliminate data gaps and automate customer conversations end-to-end.

Salesmate CRM

• Contact management: Unified customer view with order sync and 360° profiles.
• Marketing automation: Email campaigns, drips, personalization tags, A/B testing.
• AI-powered meeting scheduler: Customers can book demos or calls directly.
• Deal management: Tracks product-level performance, upsells, multi-item orders.
• Automates journeys and targeting using Smartflows.
• Custom dashboards, attribution, scheduled reports.

Skara AI Agents for eCommerce

Skara’s AI Agent for eCommerce helps convert more shoppers by delivering instant, intelligent guidance.

It understands intent, gives recommendations, removes friction, and recovers abandoned carts.

With integrations into Shopify and BigCommerce, plus omnichannel support via web, WhatsApp, SMS, and voice, Skara ensures customers receive fast, accurate, and personalized assistance.

Together

• A shared data layer + intelligent conversations = faster answers, higher conversions, and consistent CX across chat, email, SMS, and social.

6. When campaigns talk to everyone instead of to someone

If every subscriber sees the same email, ad, or push notification, your brand becomes background noise. Personalized campaigns are essential to attract customers and stand out in a crowded inbox.

Why it’s a problem

• Lower open and click-through rates.
• VIP customers feel unrecognized; at-risk customers don’t get the right nudge.
• Campaigns clash with recent experiences (e.g., promo emails sent right after a bad delivery).

How to fix it

#1. Use your CRM as the targeting brain.

• In CRM, track: purchases, browsing behavior, support interactions, conversation tags, and campaign engagement.
• Use market research to identify and segment customer groups based on competitors' product offerings and pricing strategies.
• Create segments like:
1. New customers
2. High-LTV VIPs
3. “Viewed but not purchased” for key products
4. “Support issue in the last 7 days”
5. Align campaigns with lifecycle and behavior.

• Pre-purchase: browse abandonment, comparison content, social proof.
• Post-purchase: how-to guides, care tips, refills, accessories.
• Recovery: win-back flows for at-risk or churned segments.

Personalized campaigns not only drive engagement but also improve brand perception by delivering relevant, cohesive experiences that foster loyalty and trust.

#2. Let conversations refine your targeting

AI agents and human reps can tag contacts based on what customers say:

• “Beginner”, “advanced”, “gift shopper”, “B2B enquiry”, “needs compatibility help”

These tags feed back into your CRM and make future campaigns smarter instead of guesswork.

7. When you only react instead of guiding shoppers

Waiting for customers to ask for help means you only see the tip of the iceberg. Many just leave quietly. Online customers expect proactive guidance across all online channels, and failing to meet these expectations can lead to lost sales and decreased loyalty.

Why it’s a problem

• Abandoned carts and sessions that could have been saved.
• Rising support volume anchored around the same preventable issues.
• Missed chances to educate and upsell at the right time.

How to fix it

• Place AI agents on key surfaces across your online channels:
• Place AI agents on PDPs (“Need help choosing size or checking compatibility?”)
• Cart/checkout (“Questions about shipping, fees, or returns?”)
• Order tracking pages (“Want to initiate a return or exchange?”)
• Use multiple sales channels, such as social media, your website, and marketplaces, to reach and guide customers at different stages of their journey.
• Trigger conversations based on behavior:
1. Time on page
2. High cart value
3. Repeated views of the same product or help article
• Design agents to clarify intent and reduce friction, not just say “How can I help?” in a loop.

This turns your site into a guided, conversational experience instead of a self-serve maze.

8. When bots trap people instead of helping them

People don’t hate automation - they hate feeling trapped by automation. A customer obsession mindset is crucial when designing automation that truly helps customers.

Why it’s a problem

• Rigid button-only chatbots frustrate serious buyers.
• No option to easily reach a human causes “chatbot rage.”
• High-intent leads (bulk orders, B2B, urgent issues) get stuck in loops.

How to fix it

• Use AI-native agents powered by artificial intelligence that understand natural language and can:
• Parse questions
• Ask clarifying follow-ups
• Pull information from FAQs, order data, and knowledge bases.
• Leverage artificial intelligence to create more human-like and helpful support experiences.
• Always provide a visible escape hatch:
1. “Talk to a human” button.
2. Automatic escalation for negative sentiment or high-value customers
• Orchestrate handoff: the AI collects context, then passes a structured summary to a human agent in your Chat Inbox or CRM so customers don’t have to repeat themselves.

AI should make support feel more human, not less.

9. When you’re only “open” during office hours

Shoppers don’t respect your time zone - they buy when it’s convenient for them.

Why it’s a problem

• Late-night and weekend visitors bounce when they can’t resolve simple doubts.
• Support backlogs grow after weekends and holidays, slowing everyone down.
• Customers perceive your brand as unresponsive or “hard to reach.”

How to fix it

• Deploy 24/7 AI agents to handle:
1. FAQs (shipping, returns, warranty, store policies)
2. Order tracking and basic account questions
3. Standard flows under clear rules (starting a return, checking eligibility, etc.)
• Support direct sales and services online by providing assistance to customers making purchases or seeking help with online services at any time.
• Keep humans focused on complex or sensitive conversations: billing issues, large quotes, VIP accounts, edge cases.
• Store all conversations - AI and human - in your CRM so you can review quality and outcomes across the full week.

This combination lets you be “always on” without burning out your team.

Also read: "Cost or quality? With Skara, you get both"

10. When you ignore what customers are already telling you and risk customer loyalty

Every chat, email, social DM, and phone call is free user research. Most teams barely tap it. Striving for an exceptional eCommerce customer experience means acting on customer insights to continually improve.

Why it’s a problem

• You keep answering the same questions instead of fixing the root issues.
• Product, marketing, and operations all miss out on real language and real objections.
• Your content and FAQs lag what people actually ask, which hurts both CX and AEO.

How to fix it

Use AI to summarize and tag conversations:

• Sizing confusion
• Shipping delay
• Compatibility question
• Pricing objection
• Feature/product request
• Turn these insights into:
  1. Updated PDPs (better photos, clearer specs, sizing charts)
  2. New FAQs and help docs that match customer phrasing, creating helpful resources based on real feedback
  3. Adjustments in operations (e.g., clearer shipping timelines, better packaging)

11. When you measure activity instead of outcomes

If you only track “tickets closed” or “average handle time,” you’re missing the bigger picture.

Why it’s a problem

• Teams optimize for speed, not satisfaction or lifetime value.
• It’s hard to make a budget case for better CX or AI agents without clear numbers.
• You can’t tell whether your agents and campaigns are actually driving revenue.

How to fix it

Focus on a small, meaningful set of experience and revenue metrics, such as:

• Conversion rate for conversation-assisted sessions vs non-assisted.
• Revenue influenced by AI and human agents.
• First response time and total resolution time.
• CSAT / Net Promoter Score / Net Promoter Score NPS post-conversation.
• Repeat purchase and churn rates for customers who interacted with support vs those who didn’t.

Tracking net promoter score (NPS) is especially important, as it measures customer loyalty and the likelihood that customers will recommend your brand.

Delivering an exceptional customer experience can significantly increase NPS and drive long-term loyalty by positively shaping customer perceptions and encouraging repeat business.

Connect your conversational layer to your CRM so you can clearly see how better experiences translate into hard numbers.

Improved customer experience can also drive e-commerce sales, supporting business growth and long-term success.

Final thoughts

In the e-commerce industry, business growth is closely tied to the quality of customer experience you deliver.

Satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal customers, making repeat purchases and sharing their positive experiences with friends and family.

This organic word-of-mouth not only boosts sales but also lowers the cost of acquiring new customers. A well-crafted eCommerce customer experience strategy: one that leverages customer data and insights into customer preferences, enabling online businesses to deliver personalized experiences that meet the unique needs of online shoppers.

By consistently exceeding customer expectations, e-commerce brands can attract potential customers, foster brand loyalty, and set themselves apart from competitors, all of which contribute to long-term business growth and profitability.

Regularly optimizing your eCommerce store is essential to ensure you deliver the best possible customer experience and maintain a competitive edge.