One of the biggest challenges you’ll face in eCommerce is shopping cart abandonment: when buyers fail to complete the purchases they start.
On average, 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before a purchase is completed. In this post, we’ll cover why shoppers abandon carts and how you can reduce your shopping cart abandonment rate.
What is shopping cart abandonment?
Shopping cart abandonment is when a customer is about to make a purchase but exits at the very end of the process before completing the transaction. A cart full of items but an incomplete transaction results in an “abandoned cart” by the shopper.
Shopping cart abandonment is a critical part of the online shopping experience.
Online retailers must pay close attention to their cart abandonment rates. Adding an item to the cart without completing a purchase is a great way to determine user purchase intent. The shopping cart abandonment rate is an important metric for eCommerce sites. A high abandonment rate can indicate poor user experience or a broken sales funnel.
In order to increase sales and revenue, reduce shopping cart abandonment by optimising your online store’s checkout process.
Identifying why your customer’s are abandoning their online shopping cart is a difficult task to understand.
Firstly, take a look at your customer data and analytics. At what point in the checkout process are customers exiting the checkout? Identifying these dropoff points will uncover any gaps in your sales funnel to help you analyse your checkout flow.
Online merchants must constantly monitor and optimise the online shopping experience to improve conversion rates and increase revenue.
Here’s a few reasons why your customer’s abandon their online shopping cart and how to prevent it.
Build trust to reduce shopping cart abandonment
Compare your checkout process to your competitors. One of the most common reasons for online shopping cart abandonment is a lack of trust on your website and payment processor.
Providing credit card and personal information is always a risk when it comes to online shopping. That’s why it’s important to make sure your users can trust you and your website.
Increase your credibility and conversions with social proof, reviews, and testimonials to build a strong brand. When it comes to providing your credit card and personal information online, shoppers want to see that your site is trusted by others. A reliable and clearly outlined return policy helps to build trust and credibility with customers who are further along in the checkout process and contemplating their purchase.
“Removing ambuiguity on your product pages and throughout the checkout process is essential” says Lisa Martens, Head of Customer Success at Workit Spaces. “Bring clarity to your customers using social proof and star reviews in product descriptions. A lot of our members cite average delivery times and shipping expectations using a FAQs page linked on the checkout page to reduce shopping cart abandonment.”
Lisa Martens, Head of Customer Success at Workit Spaces.
Prioritise payment options
There’s nothing worse than taking your card out of your wallet to make a purchase and finding out the store only takes cash. The same disappointment applies when customers try to make a purchase online. Getting to the very end of the purchase process only to find out that their preferred method of payment is not accepted. Not only is your customer disappointed, but they are unlikely to return to your online store.
Customers have personal preferences of how they would like to pay. Offering the most commonly used method of payment for your target audience will ensure customers complete transactions. For example, accepting PayPal Checkout can give you up to 82% better checkout conversions.
Optimise the mobile checkout process
In 2019, 73% of Australians shopped on their mobile device. But 20% of mobile shoppers abandoned a purchase because the shopping experience and checkout process wasn’t mobile-friendly. Online merchants must optimise their website for mobile payments or it will most definitely cause a surge in shopping cart abandonment.
To make your checkout experience user-friendly on mobile devices, try to use larger fonts, lots of white space and high contrast call-to-action buttons. Buttons like “Add to cart” or “Buy Now” should be placed at the top and bottom of product pages to streamline the checkout process.
We asked our eCommerce member Alec from Floraly, an Australian-based online florist, how he curb’s shopping cart abandonment rates in an industry that is often made up of last minute purchases.
“We build trust with our customers by posting a 100% happiness guarantee sticker on the home page. This means that if the customer is not happy, we will either send another bouquet or process a refund. We have found that, because our product is such a last minute purchase, three very timely abandoned cart emails are the most effective way to recoup potential lost revenue.”
Alec, Founder at Floraly.
Trust the checkout process
Ultimately, the checkout process on an eCommerce website can make or break your sales revenue and conversion rates. By using the tips mentioned above, you are sure to reduce your abandon cart rate. Streamline your checkout process and remove any obstacles on the path between product selection and completing a purchase. Already reduced shopping cart abandonment? Check out how adding these eCommerce solutions can grow your business.