I can quite easily go through the buying process for an item online without reading all information, and features. I believe that I am not atypical of the usual user. I’ll skim the content, and if it sounds like what I want, and if it doesn’t cost a lot of money, i’ll continue to the purchasing phase without having indepth knowledge.
If for whatever reason it doesn’t work, or doesn’t work as expected, then I’ll start reading through the documentation. Never reading every section unless I really want or need to know every small detail.
For this reason, online marketers or copywriters need realise that they can really cut out a lot of their content, or keep it quite minimal, with more details in an FAQ. There is no point overloading the user with content at the beginning of the process when you are trying to sell.
Think of it as like a salesman in a shop. They wouldn’t bombard you with all the details to begin with, they will test the waters to see just how interested you are, and if the need requires, feed you with more details.
Translating this to the online environment, you can use read more buttons, FAQs, pop ups, tabbed content or detailed information further down the page, after the customers interest has been piqued.