Global e-commerce sales exceeded $2 trillion in 2017, and are on pace to more than double by 2021  Yet average online conversion rates have remained doggedly low  Fewer than 4% of consumers arriving from desktop browsers buy, and the number is lower still for tablet and smartphone users (3% and 1%, respectively). These are a far cry from offline retail conversion rates estimated to be 20%–40%.

Why do so few online shoppers convert to purchasers?

Consumer behavior research suggests that trust is essential to forming an intention to purchase. When trust is high, people are much more likely to take risks and engage in trade. In the e-commerce setting, a prospective customer usually relies entirely on the digital experience.

Researchers have tried to provide an exact answer to this question, one rooted in deliberative cognitive processes. They use decision models to describe sets of logical factors related to the formation of purchase intentions, such as an individual