[intro]In this Guide, you can learn about the technical reasons that a customer may be unable to complete their order on your EKM online shop. [/intro]
On occasion, you may receive a call from one of your customers who is having issues completing their order on your EKM online shop. Whilst this can be frustrating, you can often resolve the issue for them by asking the following questions to help ascertain the cause, and this is an opportunity to provide some strong customer service which can go a long way in encouraging visitors to come to your EKM online shop again. These questions are designed to be asked over the phone, so you can quickly ask the questions and jot down your customer’s information. Often the cause of the issue can be resolved within the same call when you know exactly what to ask and why, and if not, you can always contact our Customer Support Team who can help you investigate further - simply advise your customers you will call them back shortly whilst you resolve the issue for them.
Have you double-checked your details?
It sounds obvious, but this is often a cause for issues and sometimes it takes another person to remind someone to double-check their details, especially their card details. Obviously, you won’t know what your customer’s card details are, but just urging them to double-check can sometimes do the world of good.
Are you on a shared WiFi network?
Public networks like this are commonly found in supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, fast food outlets and public transport stations and often need a password to connect. Whilst convenient, these aren’t very secure, especially concerning making payments online.
When placing an order on an ecommerce website, the payment provider may detect that the network being used is not secure and choose not to continue the transaction. During this process, some payment providers will explain what has happened but others will just stop the connection and won’t allow it to continue without an explanation; it will appear to the customer that it has just stopped or ‘stalled out’.
Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do from an EKM perspective or as a shop owner to prevent this, however, if you do have anybody get in touch, do check with them to see if they are using a public network and if they are, recommend that they use 3G, 4G or if possible a secure WiFi connection and this should allow them to complete their order.
[remember]The 3G network is currently being phased out by mobile phone providers. Whilst they have agreed to phase 3G out entirely by 2033, it is down to the individual providers to implement when this network will be switched off. Vodaphone began their switch-off in 2022, whilst EE and Three will have begun their switch-off in early 2024. O2 has not yet announced their switch-off plans. You can read more information about the 3G switch-off here, but bear in mind that your customers will be contacted by their mobile phone providers with advice and support during the switch-off nearer the time if they have not already. [/remember]
Who is your ISP?
There are occasions where the reason customers can’t check out on your EKM online shop is due to a major ISP (Internet Service Provider) having issues. With this in mind, it’s always worth checking Down Detector to see if there are any ongoing problems:
| Virgin Media | BT | EE | Vodaphone | O2 |
| Sky | TalkTalk | Plusnet | Giffgaff | Three |
Any error messages?
If your customer is still having issues, ask them if there are any error messages visible when they attempt to complete their order. If they can see any error messages, ask them to let you know the URL of the page that the error message is occurring on, as the answer can help you ascertain exactly where in the transaction process the error is occurring.
If the URL is on one of the pages of your EKM online shop:
If you don’t recognise the error message, take your customer’s details and advise you’ll get back to them shortly. Then speak to our Customer Support Team who will be able to investigate the issue further for you.
If the URL is one of the pages of your payment gateway:
This could be an issue with the payment gateway or the payment method. Take your customer’s details and advise you’ll get back to them shortly. It’s worth checking the following status pages to see if there’s a widespread issue:
| EKMPay | PayPal | Visa | Mastercard |
If you can't see any problems on the status pages above, speak to our Customer Support Team who will be able to investigate the issue further for you. This could involve checking the debug log on the customer’s order, so please let the Customer Support Team know as much information as possible so they can identify the correct abandoned order.
What kind of device are you using?
If there are no error messages or notifications that they can see, ask your customer what device they are using. Some customers may be unaware that they are using an out-of-date device or browser, and as a result, this can prevent them from completing orders not just on your own EKM online shop, but on other ecommerce websites too.
If they don’t know what browser they are using, ask them to visit: https://www.whatismybrowser.com/ and read the results to you. The answer you’re looking for here is specifically what browser they’re using, what operating system and what device. What Is My Browser will reveal the answer to the first two questions, whilst you’ll need to jot down what device the customer is using as this can help the Customer Support Team replicate the issue if required. Armed with this information, you can quickly check the links below to ascertain if their OS (Operating System) or browser is out of date, and potentially the cause of their issue:
Operating System
| Windows | Mac | iPad | iOS | iPhone | Android |
Browser
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Safari |
If the customer is using an older device or browser to access your EKM online shop, let them know they need to update it as this could hinder their experience, in terms of usability, security and of course, when they’re trying to purchase items online, not just on your EKM online shop but on other websites too. Ask if they can complete their order on a different device, but if it’s not possible and you have EKM Pay as a payment gateway, you can complete the order for them using the EKM Pay Virtual Terminal.
[more]
- Why is my shop not listed on search engines?
- Why am I not receiving my Order Placed emails?
- Why has my EKM online shop been upgraded?
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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in EKM Community. If you need some inspiration for your EKM online shop, listen to our podcast on iTunes and Spotify.[/contact]