Top 10 Negative Behaviors of Online Shoppers

When selling products online, it’s important to offer helpful and detailed advice to customers—whether it’s about size, material, pricing, or anything related to your product. Of course, this takes time if you want to close a sale.

However, a common risk when selling online is that customers may vanish right after you provide them with a price or after several days of attentive service without giving any feedback. This is tough to blame on the customers since online shopping offers them many choices and they have the right to pick the best product. Unlike in physical stores, where customers can walk out if they’re not interested, online interactions make it harder to read their intentions. You never know if they’re busy or just not interested, which leads many shop owners to keep sending follow-up messages.

The task of the seller remains the same—trying to make a sale. While being helpful and treating customers as kings is natural, online shoppers often forget basic courtesies like saying thank you or goodbye, especially when they decide not to make a purchase. This basic politeness is often seen as unnecessary. Sellers are left with nothing but a message saying 'seen but no reply' from those customers...

Pricing is always a competitive factor in sales. However, some online stores have already set prices that are carefully calculated, often based on store chains or company policies, making it difficult to offer discounts. When shopping from reputable online stores, the listed price is usually fixed to ensure a fair deal for both the buyer and seller, which attracts more customers and builds trust.

While you might haggle for a better price at a market, it's best to check the price online first and then decide whether or not to request a discount. For high-end items, such as imported goods or authentic cosmetics, it’s unreasonable to ask for discounts. If customers make such demands, sellers are often left with no choice but to become less responsive, and the customer may end up feeling neglected.

To attract customer interest, many online stores engage with buyers through various promotional campaigns, sales events, and customer appreciation offers. This is quite similar to how other businesses operate offline.

Items like cosmetics, clothing, and footwear often go on heavy sales. When an online store offers a significant discount—sometimes as much as 40% or even 70%—to celebrate an anniversary, it’s likely that the seller is already taking a loss or just breaking even. Despite this, customers often remain skeptical of such sales tactics and may push for additional perks, like free shipping, which is seen as a given. As a store owner, you may find yourself spending time explaining why that isn’t always feasible.

The world of sales is filled with all kinds of customers, and as the saying goes, 'a hundred sellers for a thousand buyers.' In other words, sellers are always at the mercy of a wide range of customers—young, old, diverse in both age and temperament. So encountering difficult customers is simply part of the job, whether you’re selling in person or online.

In sales, you might run into customers who feel the need to tell you how to do your job—whether it's 'you should price it like this' or 'you should advise customers this way.' If you've been in the business long enough, you might be tempted to say, 'If you know so much, why don’t you run your own store?' It's frustrating to deal with customers who think they can teach you how to sell. This is a good reminder that humility and respect are key, and in the end, the customer may realize their mistake and apologize for their rude behavior.

Lack of knowledge or carelessness is often the root cause of many frustrations. For instance, asking for deworming tablets at a clothing store, asking about makeup at a shoe shop, or searching for Nivea products at a store that sells Dove shampoo might sound ridiculous, but it happens more often than you'd think. It's also common for customers to ask whether a store carries certain products, even if those items aren't part of the store's inventory. As a seller, you’ll need to develop patience and handle such inquiries with professionalism.

And if you're the buyer, it's important to make sure you are asking at the right store. If you're referencing an image from another source or asking about a product from a different shop, be sure to double-check the logo, as asking about a product should always be done politely and respectfully.

When selling products, store owners usually post clear photos and captions with detailed descriptions. For clothing, these typically include size, color, and fabric details. For home goods, information about product features, benefits, and price are usually provided. However, sometimes the level of detail can overwhelm customers, who often skim through images and contact the store without reading the full information.

This often leads to amusing situations where customers ask about items the store doesn't even sell, although they appeared in the photos. It’s a common and frustrating mistake. Or, some customers ask questions about details that were already clearly stated in the product description.

So, sellers must continue to provide complete information, while customers should take the time to carefully review the descriptions and images before reaching out. A good seller-buyer relationship starts with both parties paying attention to the details.

Whether shopping in-person or online, competition is fierce. As a result, it’s natural for customers to compare prices across different stores.

While it’s common for customers to seek the best deal, it’s important to remember that price comparison should be done discreetly. It’s wise to select products that fit your budget without making direct price complaints to the sellers. For mass-market items like clothing or shoes, price variations are normal, but when it comes to branded, high-quality products, it's crucial to consider the overall value before making a purchase.

Customers always expect clear, friendly advice and quick delivery. They want their items immediately – whether it’s a bottle of weight-loss pills or a trendy shirt for a date night. However, online shopping is rarely the fastest option. Typically, it takes 3 to 5 days for deliveries, but sometimes it can take longer for various reasons.

One of the risks of online shopping is that you can't physically touch the product before purchasing it. A common problem sellers face is when an item is 'order bombed' – meaning it gets shipped out, but the customer vanishes at delivery time. The phone might be unreachable, or the buyer may make up excuses like 'I’m busy, I’ll take it another day' – but that 'another day' might never come. Delivery drivers, who work hard in all weather conditions, are often left with no choice but to return with the package. To avoid this, it's always a good idea to confirm the delivery details beforehand.

This frustrating feeling is something online sellers are all too familiar with. You provide thorough advice, answer all questions, confirm the order details, and then just wait for the delivery. But then, just a few minutes later – or even after the item has already shipped – the order gets canceled out of nowhere. All that time and effort, not to mention the cost of packaging and shipping, go to waste. Unfortunately, the seller is the one who takes the hit.

To avoid this, you might want to ask for pre-payment or establish a firm commitment between buyer and seller. The first day of the month can be especially unlucky if you're dealing with such cancellations. To prevent this, many shops put up a simple policy: 'No cancellations, no returns on the first day of the month.'

Clothes, shoes, toys, cosmetics – they may look the same in photos and in person, but surprisingly, some customers return items claiming they don’t match the images. This is an inherent risk in online shopping.

But what’s even more problematic is when items are returned after they’ve been used. This not only causes loss for the seller but also reflects poorly on the buyer. Many online sellers have started posting warnings to help others avoid dealing with such tricky customers.