A survey conducted by Approved Index has revealed that 85 per cent of people will stop using an e-commerce site before making a purchase, if they find that they are having a tough time navigating.

Forty one per cent of respondents said that ease of use was the top priority for them when assessing a site that offers safe shopping online, meaning that retailers should not ignore the interface in favour of enhancing any other element.

Almost a quarter of those questioned also said that the most striking part of any site was the choice of images used. So there are both mechanical and aesthetic considerations that need to be taken into account when designing an e-commerce platform.

The study also looked at how people respond to other design aspects, with 40 per cent stating that they are willing to put more trust in a site which has logos indicating compliance with security standards. Thirty five per cent said that they think a site is more likely to offer safe shopping online if it has a professional-looking design.

Meanwhile, three quarters of respondents said that they would be less willing to give personal details and payment card info to retailers if their site is outdated or sloppily designed.

Two thirds said that they are happy with the idea of shopping with a retailer even if the site is based overseas. But under half would want to make purchases with a foreign firm, if the site did not display products with prices in the domestic currency of choice.

Consumers in the UK are particularly pernickety when it comes to e-commerce, insisting upon sites that are easy to use, secure and designed in a way that appeals to their in built sense of trust and security.