Shopping cart abandonment occurs when your ecommerce website visitors exit the page before completing their order. Potential customers add products to their shopping cart but abandon your site during the final stages of the purchase process.
This customer behavior isn't good for any business; it is, however, common in the ecommerce industry. For instance, in March 2021, the average cart abandonment rate was 80%, according to Statista.
A high abandonment rate indicates broken sales funnel or poor customer experience. As a result, you will lose both potential sales and a chance to offer value to your site users.
When consumers exit your site, only a few return to purchase the product, while others buy from your competitor.
Luckily, there are actionable tips to encourage visitors to hit that "complete your order" button. Read more below:
1. Eliminate or Decrease Extra Costs
Free delivery is one of the most effective ways to convince more than 50% of potential buyers to purchase from your online store. Additionally, a good number of online shoppers will choose your products if you offer discounts and coupons.
On the other hand, extra costs that aren't apparent to buyers are a significant cause of shopping cart abandonment. Some of these costs include additional fees, shipping costs, and taxes. According to the Baymard Institute, 49% of shopping cart abandonment is due to extra costs that are too high.
The best solution to extra costs is to eliminate or decrease them. One way to decrease shipping costs, is to ensure your inventory is always closest to the customer so you can take advantage of zone skipping. Smart Replenishment by Smart Warehousing is a hassle-free program that ensures that your product is closest to your customer, always.
2. Meet 1-2 Day Shipping Demands
With the ecommerce boom, consumers expect quick delivery. If a product takes more than 2 days to arrive, consumers look elsewhere and will abandon the transaction.
Find a fulfillment partner that can help meet your consumers’ 1-2 day shipping demands. Make sure they have a wide footprint so that you can be in everyone’s backyard. Smart Warehousing has a nationwide 1-2 day shipping coverage.
3. Friction-Free Checkout Process
Online shoppers expect a fast and convenient checkout process—the extra effort and time spent on your page may cause cart abandonment. Unfortunately, some first-time buyers abandon the process if requested to open a user account.
There is no harm in asking your guests to create an account; however, let them complete the purchase via guest checkout if they aren't willing. Similarly, customers with an existing account might not recall their login details.
Additionally, time-consuming requests like highlighting birthdays aren't necessary for a single online purchase. While the information may be essential to understand your customers, your quest for data could be leading to cart abandonment.
For an easy fix, eliminate the unnecessary fields and introduce better checkout solutions that remember customers' information.
4. Use a Convenient Ecommerce Platform
Recovering lost revenue isn't all about the checkout process. The entire online shopper experience impacts their purchase decision; therefore, choose a perfect ecommerce platform.
Cart abandonment rate is highest among customers using mobile and tablets. Ensure that your platform is responsive. If your online store page requires squeezing and pinching or features extended load time, you are offering a poor user experience that translates to a high abandonment rate.
Invest in a flexible platform that can change and offer a great user experience on all devices. Make sure that your fulfillment partner can integrate with the platform of your choice. Smart Warehousing, for example, has over 170 integrations.
There are numerous apps available that minimize cart abandonment rates on ecommerce sites. For instance, consider an app that remembers customer information when they revisit your site later.
5. Offer Numerous Payment Options
You will lose a significant number of online shoppers if you offer only one payment option. Most shoppers use multiple payment methods. In this case, offer support for the options used by your target audience.
You can consider standard payment options like shopping apps like PayPal and Shop Pay, Digital wallets, and Credit cards.
6. Build Trust
Payment security is also a significant concern. Buyers are very cautious about making payments online and giving personal information. If they feel that their details aren't secure enough, they will most likely exit your site before purchasing.
Trust symbols come in handy when you intend to reassure your shoppers that their sensitive information is secure. Display security seals and icons like PCI-DSS compliance throughout the ordering process.
Social proof is also a great way to build trust; it should be part of your product page optimization. For instance, you can:
- Add customer testimonials
- Optimize product reviews
- Offer full contact information
- Use endorsements
- Include your face and bio
7. Customer Support
Customer support is paramount; most online buyers want assistance while on your page. Therefore, offer access to staff that helps customers find products and respond to their queries.
Integrate customer support options like live chat into the purchase process. For example, you can use cart abandonment data to point out areas where users drop off and allow them to communicate with your customer support team.
8. Create a Generous Return Policy
Most online buyers purchase from businesses with an ideal return policy. Your customers aren't in a position to physically see or try out your products. Fortunately, offering a good return policy builds trust.
First, check the number of returns and associated costs. Then offer 30-day free shipping for returns. Finally, track the trial results after two months and confirm whether the policy is feasible for your business.
Provide a link to the return policy on the initial stages of the purchase process. Besides informing buyers, the policy might lure them into making a purchase.
9. Offer an Omnipresent and Accessible Cart Button
An omnipresent cart button allows users to navigate to and from their cart seamlessly. Just by clicking a button, shoppers can double-check the items they add or confirm the cart total.
Additionally, a cart button ensures that your customers remember the selected products even when window shopping or just browsing.
10. Use Customized Follow-Up Emails
After cart abandonment, you can follow up with your customers using personalized follow-up emails. Remind them that they had initiated the purchase process and offer them an option to continue from where they left off.
Please provide a link that directs users to their last stage before exiting your page. You can also offer them a discount to encourage them to purchase.
Conclusion
Although it's hard to recover all potential sales, improving conversions is an excellent way to boost sales. In the long run, you will notice a significant decrease in shopping cart abandonment and an increase in recovered carts.
We can support your e-commerce business with our nationwide footprint and complete inventory transparency. Contact us today!