Shopping cart abandonment is a major issue for many e-commerce businesses. According to the latest data from SaleCycle, the cart abandonment rate is over 81% across all sectors.
Cart abandonment occurs when a customer adds items to their cart and then leaves the website without completing the purchase. With the cart abandonment rate being so high, it can represent a significant number of potential sales that never made it through the checkout process.
This can be frustrating for e-commerce business owners because the customer showed intent by adding items to the cart, but something caused them to leave the site before completing the process. The customer might have been surprised by added fees at the checkout or the checkout process might have been too long or complex.
Fortunately, most e-commerce businesses can decrease their cart abandonment rate by evaluating their website and deploying a few simple tips. The following are strategies e-commerce businesses can use to increase sales and reduce the number of abandoned carts.
Show All Costs Upfront
Surprise costs can be one of the biggest problems for a website’s cart abandonment rate. According to research from Baymard Institute, the added costs are the top reason for cart abandonment. When customers get to the checkout and see a price increase for shipping, taxes and other fees, the surprise increase can cause them to think twice.
Businesses need to show all costs upfront to avoid this pitfall. Along with showing the price of the product, add the shipping costs and any taxes that may apply to the product page. Customers will be more likely to accept the total price when they see it at the beginning of the process. If they only see it at the checkout, it can catch them off-guard, and it might cause them to leave in search of lower prices.
Improve Website Performance
Website performance issues can be a significant hindrance during the checkout process. If your website is slow or unresponsive, customers might give up before completing a purchase. Business owners should test website performance and take steps to improve page speeds. Along with helping to reduce cart abandonment, a faster website will provide a better user experience across the entire website.
Simplify the Checkout Process
Customers also cite long or complicated checkout processes as one of the top reasons for cart abandonment. People shop online for convenience, so they don’t want to spend a long time working their way through a complex checkout process.
One of the factors that can make a checkout process seem too complex is the need to fill out a long form. Customers do not want to provide more information beyond what they see as necessary to complete the process. Using a form analysis tool can be one of the best ways to optimize forms included in the checkout process.
Maintain Awareness of the Products
Customers have the products in their hands or on the counter in front of them when they shop in person. Since this isn’t possible with online shopping, e-commerce websites should do what they can to keep the products on the mind of the shopper as they work their way through the checkout process. One way this can be achieved is by adding a panel with a thumbnail photo of the product on the side of every page in the checkout process.
Offer More Payment Options
Not offering the right payment options is a way to guarantee high cart abandonment rates. It doesn’t matter how much a customer likes the products, if they don’t have a way to pay, they can’t buy. That means that it is in the best interest of the business to offer as many payment options as possible. Try to work with popular credit cards, payment processing services and digital wallets. Options like bank transfers and COD payments might be worth considering depending on the business and its customer base.
Win Them Back With Cart Abandonment Emails
Some customers will leave items in the cart no matter what a business does. They might get distracted or go comparison shopping and then forget to come back. Many of these sales could be won back with a little effort. The business just needs to deploy a cart abandonment email strategy.
Cart abandonment emails are designed to remind the customer of the items they left in the cart. With the right messaging and timing, they can be an effective tool for attracting many of these customers back. Businesses can even automate these emails to simplify the process while also making sure they are sent to the right customers at the right time.
Also Read: How to Research and Build a Customer Journey Map to Improve eCommerce Sales
