Why visitors won't buy from your new online store

Short answer: When a new store gets visitors but no orders, the cause is often trust, not traffic. Shoppers don't know you, so they look for proof you're a real business, that delivery and returns are clear, and that paying is safe. Fix the objections one by one, starting with surprise costs and unclear delivery, then contact details, reviews and checkout reassurance.

A new store has no reputation yet. Everything a shopper normally relies on (having heard of you, a friend's recommendation, a past order) is missing, so they judge you entirely on what the site shows them in a minute or two. The good news is that most trust problems are visible and fixable without a redesign.

What the research says about hesitant shoppers

Baymard Institute surveys online shoppers in the US about why they abandon carts. In its latest published list, 42% said they'd abandoned because they were just browsing. Among the other reasons, the most common were extra costs being too high (40%), delivery too slow (20%), and "I didn't trust the site with my credit card information" (19%). An unsatisfactory returns policy (13%) and not being able to see the total cost up front (12%) also feature.

Those figures come from US shoppers, not Australians, and they describe abandonment at checkout rather than all lost sales. But the pattern matches what store owners see everywhere: people back out when they're surprised, unsure or uneasy.

Baymard's checkout research adds a second point: shoppers judge security by what they can see. In its usability testing, the parts of a checkout page with trust badges, reassuring copy and a visually "robust" look were perceived as more secure than other parts of the same page, even though technically everything was equally protected.

Objections and fixes

"I can't tell what this will cost me."

Surprise costs are the classic reason to leave.

Fix: Show delivery costs or a delivery calculator before checkout, ideally on product pages. If you offer free shipping over a threshold, say so near the price and in the cart. Make sure the total in the cart matches the total at payment.

"When will it actually arrive?"

Fix: Give realistic delivery windows by region (metro, regional, remote), name the carrier if it helps, and say when orders are dispatched. "Ships within 2 business days from Melbourne" is more reassuring than "fast shipping". Only promise what you consistently deliver.

"What if it doesn't fit or I don't like it?"

Fix: Write a plain-English returns page: how long, who pays postage, how to start a return, and when refunds land. Link it from product pages, the cart and the footer. A short line near the add-to-cart button ("Free returns within 30 days" if that's your policy) does more than a perfect page nobody finds.

"Is this a real business?"

New stores built from a template can look anonymous.

Fix:

Show an ABN, a physical location (even just the suburb and state if you work from home), a phone number or at least a real email address, and your support hours.
Write an About page with real photos of you, your workspace or your products being made or packed.
Use a matching domain email address rather than a free webmail address.
Remove leftover theme placeholder text, demo products and broken links. Shoppers notice.

"Has anyone else bought from them?"

Fix: Start collecting reviews from your first orders with a follow-up email. Show genuine reviews on product pages, including less-than-perfect ones; a page of only five-star reviews can look suspicious. If you have no reviews yet, use honest substitutes: press mentions, a market stall photo, a founder note. Never write or buy fake reviews; they damage trust permanently when spotted.

"Is it safe to put my card in here?"

Fix:

Use your platform's standard hosted checkout rather than a heavily customised one.
Show the payment methods you accept (card logos, PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay or Google Pay) on product pages and in the cart.
Visually group the card fields and add short reassuring copy near them, which Baymard's research suggests improves perceived security.
Make sure every page loads over HTTPS without browser warnings.

"The site feels broken."

Errors and crashes are themselves a reason for abandonment in Baymard's list.

Fix: Place a real test order on your own phone, on mobile data, using each payment method. Check the confirmation email arrives and looks right. Test discount codes and out-of-stock behaviour.

"Why should I buy here instead of a big marketplace?"

Fix: Say what's different: you make it, you stock a niche range, you give advice, you ship from Australia. Put that reason near the top of the homepage and product pages, in one sentence.

A quick trust audit you can do today

Open a product page on your phone. Can you see the price, delivery cost or threshold, returns line and payment options without hunting?
Scroll to the footer. Is there a contact method, location and links to shipping and returns pages?
Read your About page. Would a stranger believe a real person runs this?
Go to checkout. Does anything look different, broken or unbranded?
Search your store name. What do people find: reviews, a social profile, nothing?

Fix whatever made you hesitate, then watch your cart and checkout figures over the following weeks.

FAQ

Do trust badges really help?

Baymard's testing found that visual cues such as seals and reassuring copy make checkout fields feel more secure. They help most when the rest of the site already looks legitimate; a badge on a sloppy site won't rescue it.

How many reviews do I need before they matter?

There's no magic number. A few detailed, genuine reviews with names or photos are more convincing than many short anonymous ones.

Should I show my home address?

You don't need to publish a home address. A suburb and state, a phone number and clear support hours usually give enough reassurance; a PO box can work for returns.

My store gets visitors but they leave the homepage. Is that also trust?

Possibly, but it can also be the wrong traffic. Check where visitors come from before rewriting pages.

If your store has traffic but the checkout stays quiet, let us review the trust gaps with you.