Abandoned shopping carts are a reality and a common fact in eCommerce. Statistics reveal that roughly 70% of carts remain unpurchased. However, there are a lot of areas on your website you can improve to prevent shopping cart abandonment, as well as cart recovery strategies to win back some customers. Find out more about shopping cart abandonment solutions!
Reasons for shopping cart abandonment
⦿ High pricing
⦿ Delivery times
⦿ Shipping costs
⦿ Poor website experience
⦿ Not mobile optimized
⦿ Checkout annoyances
⦿ Payment issues or lack of payment options
⦿ Mandatory registration
⦿ Slow website
⦿ Unclear policies
⦿ Customers are just browsing or comparing prices
How to reduce shopping cart abandonment
⦿ Have an optimized checkout process
Many customers complain about a long checkout process and this is something you should avoid. Better checkout design and overall experience increase conversion by 35%.
Try out a one-step checkout on your website, and if you want to keep the multi-step format, then add a progress bar and reduce the number of fields required.
The checkout page should have compelling call-to-action buttons to guide the user in the right direction, which is completing the order on the website. Also, add thumbnail images of the products on the checkout page.
Other important features you should add to the checkout page are “Save this cart” button, auto-apply coupons and guest checkout.
⦿ Add incentives on the checkout page such as discounts, promo codes, etc.
⦿ Provide security assurances
Payment security badges are a must for customers, but also reviews play an important role in gaining your customers’ trust.
⦿ Offer free shipping
Shoppers love free shipping, even if it means waiting longer to get the products. You can offer free shipping on standard delivery, but add extra fees for faster delivery, such as expedited shipping. Consider charging shipping for low-value products and offering free shipping for high-value items.
⦿ Implement a money-back guarantee
⦿ Provide flexible payment options to fit everyone’s needs as much as possible.
⦿ Use scarcity as a strategy to convert
You can use limited time offers, limited quantity, current demand or out of stock (one item out of stock, but alternatives are available) strategies to give that extra push and persuade the shopper to purchase products. This only works if the customer is interested in the product in the first place.
⦿ Be clear about all costs upfront
Nobody likes to see extra costs added to the order at the end of the checkout process. Be clear and upfront about all the costs involved.
⦿ Optimize the website speed
⦿ Add exit-intent popups
Add popups on the website which track the exit-intent and promote special offers which can bring the customer back into the shopping process.
⦿ Use psychology for pricing
Retail prices are often displayed as a little less than a round number, e.g. $9.99. It’s a tactic used to appeal to the emotional side of the customer rather than rational responses to the pricing message. The effect is that the customer believes the product is cheaper.
⦿ Support the sale – live chat
If your customers have questions or doubts during the checkout process, they should have easy access to your customer service team and get their questions answered. Using a live chat creates this opportunity for the shopper.
Read more about live chat benefits here.
What to do with abandoned shopping carts?
⦿ Retargeting ads
Retargeting ads help people get back on the website after they abandoned their carts. If a visitor leaves your website without making a purchase, the javascript code on your website will get a cookie from the visitor and can later target them in ads wherever they go online. Ads can be displayed on search engines, social media, and other websites. Above all, your ads should be original and eye-catching to persuade visitors to come back.
⦿ Abandoned cart recovery emails
Abandoned cart emails are useful to the merchant as they are a way to capture lost revenue. The emails should have captivating content and design and they should also include incentives. Here are some examples of intriguing subject lines:
“Gift included inside”
“Buy now and get free shipping”
“Buy now and get 10% off”
Conclusion
Only 2.86% of website visits convert into a purchase. Furthermore, competition is fierce and merchants need to differentiate themselves and stimulate the visitors to buy from them. Above all, understanding your customers and why they abandon carts is crucial to implementing the right cart recovery strategies.
Our experts can help you with more information about shopping cart abandonment solutions. Contact us today!
