Shopping online is a huge retail market that was worth £114bn in 2015 according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
In 2015, the Christmas shopping period alone (between 01 November and 26 December), saw £24.4bn spent online. All the predictions are for online retail to increase this year by around 12%.
During the festive season, there are many great bargains to be had online. But for many, shopping online can be an almost impossible task, as e-commerce sites are difficult to navigate or use, especially if you have a disability such as a visual impairment or dyslexia.
The recent Click-Away Pound 2016 survey shows just how important it is for e-tailers to take web accessibility seriously.
If your website isn’t accessible you could potentially be losing out on huge amounts of sales to consumers with disabilities and impairments, particularly at this time of year, given the large amount of money spent on Christmas shopping online.
The results of the survey show that online shopping is a very poor and limiting experience for many disabled people.
According to the survey:
- 71% of disabled customers with access needs will click away from a website that they find difficult to use.
- 82% of customers with access needs would spend more if websites were more accessible.
- In the UK in 2016, around 6.1 million internet users have impairments that affect the way they use the Internet.
- Those 6.1 million people will spend £16.55 billion online this year.
- Over 80% of these customers will spend their money not necessarily on the website that offers the cheapest products, but where fewest barriers are placed in their way.
If you think you might be missing out on the Click Away Pound there is a software solution that can help, Recite Me.
The custom tool bar is a simple and highly effective fix that can be added to your e-tail website in five minutes to make it accessible to people with a disability or visual impairment.
It can also translate your content into over 100 languages, providing an instant international solution for your site.
To make your e-tail website accessible to everyone and sell more to disabled customers book your appointment today for a product demonstration and free 30-day trial.
