What is Shopping Cart Abandonment?
Shopping cart abandonment is a common challenge faced by many eCommerce businesses. It refers to the phenomenon where online shoppers add products to their shopping carts but fail to complete the purchase.
This trend is way more common than you might think. Research shows that around 67% of people who add items to their shopping cart leave before they hit the checkout button.
In other words, for every 100 shoppers on your site, well over half will leave before taking action! Shocking, right?
This can significantly impact the revenue of your eCommerce store and result in a substantially lower retention rate. Since it costs more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an existing one, this can quickly cut into your profits and drive down brand loyalty.
However, by implementing the right strategies, you can reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase their conversion rates. Today, I'll show you how to get started.
1. Simplify the Checkout Process
One of the main reasons for cart abandonment is a complicated checkout process. If the process is time-consuming, requires too many steps, or asks for excessive information, customers are more likely to abandon their carts.
If you’d like to avoid this issue, I recommend streamlining your checkout process. I found the best way to do this is to add a progress bar so visitors can see exactly how long it will take to complete the process. This simple adjustment can reduce anxiety and improve your conversion rate.
You should also add accessibility options to make life easier for everyone who visits your site. For example, a one-click checkout page for repeat visitors can dramatically improve sales and the average customer lifetime value. I also recommend including a guest checkout option for people who would rather place an order without going through the signup process.
By simplifying the checkout process, businesses can provide a seamless and hassle-free experience, which will encourage customers to complete their purchases.
2. Offer free shipping or transparent shipping costs
Did you know the number one reason a shopper abandons their cart is due to unexpected costs?
When you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Imagine you’re getting ready to place an order on an eCommerce website. You imagine the total will be $50. Instead, you see a $90 price tag at checkout. Would you hesitate before confirming your order? Most of us would.
The good news is there are quite a few ways to make your pricing transparent and approachable.
- Offer free shipping on orders over a specific amount.
- Clearly communicate additional costs upfront. (Include fees in the pricing)
- Let users choose a delivery option that fits their budget.
- Use an “always on” shopping cart so users can see their total in seconds.
By taking these steps, you can reduce the likelihood of customers abandoning their carts due to unexpected costs.
3. Build Trust with Visitors
If users don’t trust your business, there’s a good chance they’ll leave with items still in their cart. This is one of those things that happens on a psychological level.
Here’s an example so you can see what I mean: Let’s say you’re looking at two Amazon listings for the same product. One has 5,000 reviews and a 4.7 star rating. The other one has 5 reviews and a perfect 5 star rating.
Which would you trust more? Most of us would go with the first option because it’s clear that this seller has worked with more people and is delivering a reputable product. People go through this same thought process when buying from eCommerce storefronts.
In fact, 88% of people say they trust customer reviews over traditional advertising. The simple process of allowing users to leave reviews on product landing pages can have a noticeable impact on retention.
Here are a few other tips for building trust with your audience:
- Display trust badges and security seals
- Highlight secure payment options
- Provide clear return and refund policies
- Give users multiple support options
By addressing user concerns and demonstrating credibility, you can instill confidence in customers and reduce cart abandonment.
4. Optimize website performance
If your website is slow or unresponsive, it can have a massive impact on your cart abandonment rate. Research shows that the average person expects a site to load in 2 seconds or less. For every second after, conversions drop by a shocking 7%. The longer visitors wait, the more likely it is that they will leave before placing their order.
I recommend using Google’s PageSpeed Insights to learn specific ways to improve loading times and optimize for your visitors.
This tool will help you monitor and fix any technical issues, optimize loading times, and much more.
You’ll also want to make sure your site looks good and is responsive on mobile. Nearly 69% of the world owns a mobile device, so it’s important to take this step if you want to keep smartphone users on your site long enough to place an order.
By offering users a smooth browsing and shopping experience, you can drastically increase customer satisfaction and minimize cart abandonment.
5. Send Recovery Emails
Finally, let’s talk about what you should do if a user decides to abandon their cart. Cart abandonment emails are designed for people who’ve joined your email list, added an item to their cart, but haven't finalized their order.
These emails are an excellent way to convince people to come back and finish what they started. The key is to send your emails at the right frequency, and with the right incentives.
We found that sending 3 emails within a week of a visitor leaving helped us recover almost 70% of users who abandoned their carts.
When creating an email series for these users, it’s important to reward them for coming back. You could, for example, offer people 20% off their order if they follow the link back to your site.
Feel free to experiment with different recovery emails and find what works best for your business and your target audience. One thing’s for sure; these emails will help you reduce abandonment.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, reducing shopping cart abandonment is vital for the success of any eCommerce business. Simplifying your checkout process and pricing while building trust and engaging with your audience can help you turn more casual browsers into happy customers. Remember to analyze your results long the way so refine your strategy and build an amazing experience for each person who engages with your brand.
