(October 6, 2009) With the recession driving more transactions to the e-commerce channel, the ability of merchants to deliver a smooth experience from log-in to checkout has been magnified. The good news for online stores is that fewer customers are running into glitches while conducting transactions online. The bad news is that merchants may be hearing about problems less often as frustrated customers increasingly vent on social networks and blogs rather than directly to the merchant. That’s according to a survey released on Tuesday by Tealeaf Technology Inc., whose software analyzes consumer behavior online.

Some 48% of U.S. adults indicate they are doing more transactions online than they did in the past, according to the survey, a result Tealeaf analysts attribute to the recession. Most observers agree persons who have been affected by the downturn may be using the Web more to seek out bargains, hunt for jobs, or just to save on gas. Of those who conducted an e-commerce transaction in the past year, 80% encountered a problem ranging from error messages to log-in glitches. While a high percentage, that represents an improvement from the average of 87% in recent years, according to Tealeaf, which has conducted the study in each of the last five years.

And, while transactional issues cost big money, the impact has lessened. The San Francisco-based company estimates that online merchants will forfeit $47.6 billion in lost sales this year because of site glitches. That’s down from the $60 billion price tag it hung on such problems in 2006 (Digital Transactions News, Sept. 25, 2006).

Still, a Tealeaf release about the survey cautions that “online customer experience is still very much a work in progress.” Thirty-eight percent reported having encountered error messages while trying to conduct an online transaction, while 19% said they ran into so-called endless loops and 28% cited log-in issues. Tealeaf calls those results “still extremely high.” Meanwhile, nearly one-third said they would go elsewhere or simply abandon the transaction if they run into such problems, a figure on which the company based its lost-sales estimate.

At the same time consumers are less likely to complain to the merchant when they run into problems. Some 26% said they posted complaints on a merchant’s site in such cases, down from 32% in 2008. Thirty-eight percent phoned into a merchant call center, a drop from 47% last year. Instead, many are posting their gripes on blogs or social networks, which can only magnify their impact on other consumers, Tealeaf says. Twelve percent said they did this in 2009, double the number last year. Some 54% of respondents said what they read on social networks influenced their online transactions, while 82% said such material influenced which merchants they bought from.

Harris Interactive conducted the survey from July 31 to Aug. 4, canvassing 2,188 U.S. adults. The survey sample was weighted, Tealeaf says, to be representative of the U.S. population online.