10 tips to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your eCommerce
Shopping cart abandonment is a common issue that occurs in most online stores, impacting the business's sales.
As an entrepreneur, you strive to boost the visibility of your eCommerce. You invest resources and time in various strategies, such as a strong presence on social media, paid advertising to expand your reach, and refining keywords to improve search engine rankings. Your goal is to attract more traffic to your online store.
Surely, your techniques have borne fruit, and traffic to your eCommerce has skyrocketed. Users browse through your digital catalog and start filling their shopping carts with items. Each click to add a product is a small victory, a promise of a potential transaction.
But unfortunately, something escapes your control. Despite the initial commitment and the promise of an imminent purchase, a significant portion of these shoppers do not complete the process. Their shopping carts become digital storehouses, reflecting a perplexing disconnect between desire and action.
Have you wondered what obstacles or uncertainties stand in the way of these shoppers just at the crucial moment? Could it be hidden costs, the complexity of the payment process, or simply last-minute indecision? Your efforts to drive traffic to the store do not translate into the desired increase in sales.
Abandoned carts are a constant reminder of the challenge of turning visitors into customers, the importance of removing obstacles, and guiding shoppers to the finish line: completing the purchase.
The cart abandonment rate in eCommerce can vary considerably depending on the industry, market, and the quality of the eCommerce website in question.
It is estimated that the average cart abandonment rate is around 60% to 70%, which means that approximately seven out of ten users who add products to an online shopping cart do not complete the purchase.
It's important to closely monitor the abandonment rate to ensure that improvements are being made to your eCommerce for attracting new customers and achieving better sales results.
Several factors contribute to this problem, and in this article, we will mention some of them, as well as certain strategies to prevent abandonment.
What is shopping cart abandonment in eCommerce?
Shopping cart abandonment, also known as purchase abandonment, is when a user adds products to their eCommerce shopping cart but does not complete the purchase.
When a high percentage of your users abandon their shopping carts, it means that something is failing in the purchase process. For some reason, your visitors decide not to complete their purchase. This not only represents a poor user experience but also a reduction in sales.
Now, don't worry. Shopping cart abandonment is common in online commerce and can be caused by various reasons. It's a challenge that many companies face.
To address this issue, you will need to analyze why your users abandon their purchase process and implement strategies that encourage online sales.
Why do consumers abandon their shopping carts?
There are multiple factors that can lead a user to abandon their shopping cart, including:
Poor browsing experience: Websites that are difficult to use, slow, or not intuitive can discourage users and lead to cart abandonment.
Mandatory account creation: Asking users to create an account before making a purchase can be seen as a barrier, and many consumers prefer the option to check out as a guest.
Unclear product or service information: Lack of details or insufficient descriptions about products or services can create doubts and cause customers to abandon their carts.
Lack of support or effective communication: The absence of customer support options, such as live chat or phone assistance, can make consumers feel insecure about making a purchase.
Delivery times: Lengthy delivery times can discourage customers from completing their purchase on your online store.
High shipping costs: High shipping expenses can demotivate customers from finalizing their purchase.
Complicated checkout process: If the checkout process is confusing, lengthy, or requires too much information, customers may abandon their carts.
Lack of payment options: The absence of payment methods that customers typically use can lead to cart abandonment.
Price comparison: Customers may be searching for lower prices on other websites before making a purchase.
Security concerns: Worries about the security of their personal and financial data can be deterrents to completing a purchase.
Lack of clarity in return or warranty policies: If there is no clear information about the return policy, potential customers may hesitate to make a purchase.
Distractions or external interruptions: Unexpected interruptions, such as a phone call or intermittent internet connection, can lead to cart abandonment.
It's essential for eCommerce businesses to understand the reasons behind cart abandonment to improve the user experience and increase conversions. Implementing specific strategies to mitigate these issues can help reduce the cart abandonment rate and boost online sales.
How to reduce eCommerce cart abandonment?
There are multiple strategies to reduce cart abandonment in an online store. Here are 10 tips to reduce the number of incomplete sales:
1. Offer different payment methods
Offering various flexible and secure payment methods so that the customer does not feel limited is an essential point, as they can choose the method that is most convenient for them.
Some payment options could include: credit cards, debit cards, cash payments in-store, PayPal, or even installment payment options, which can provide customers with financing options.
2. Optimize the UX of your online store
User experience is key. An intuitive and easy-to-navigate website contributes to customers feeling comfortable and secure during their purchase process.
It's important to remember that eCommerce should be mobile-friendly, with a clean design and a fast, efficient payment gateway. Customers are not willing to spend too much time on a single site, and if it's not user-friendly, they will seek alternatives.
3. Allow users to check out as guests
Sometimes, the registration process can be cumbersome for users, and not everyone wants to create an account before making a purchase. Allowing users to check out as guests eliminates this barrier and encourages a quick and straightforward checkout process.
4. Display transparent prices
No user likes to see hidden costs during their purchase when trying to finalize it. It's crucial to be honest by including all costs upfront, specifying the product price, including shipping fees, and any applicable taxes if they exist.
Transparency in costs helps build trust with customers and prevents unpleasant surprises during the checkout process.
5. Reduce delivery times
In addition to minimizing shipping costs, ensuring reasonable delivery times is crucial. Lengthy delivery times can deter customers from completing their purchases on your online store.
6. Offer discounts
In order to rekindle the customer's interest in the abandoned cart, you can send discount codes or promotions via email to the user.
Delivering electronic coupons to customers can be an incentive for them to make purchases more frequently. Another common strategy to encourage new customers to make a purchase is to offer free shipping on their first purchase. Discounts for specific items in the cart can also be provided, among other strategies, to ultimately complete the purchase.
7. Implement remarketing
If a user abandons their products in the shopping cart, you can show them the same or similar products through platforms like Google, Facebook, or Instagram. This is known as remarketing.
Remarketing allows you to re-engage customers with personalized ads, reminding them of the items in their cart and motivating them to return. In a remarketing campaign, the abandoned product is shown to the user on other websites to encourage them to come back and complete their purchase.
8. Send cart abandonment recovery emails
Sending an email to encourage customers to return and complete their purchase can help increase sales by up to 5%, so it's important that customers receive reminders within a few hours of abandoning their cart to prevent them from losing interest in the products.
When sending the email, a good idea is to offer special promotions such as buy one get one free deals or 2x1, discounts on their next purchase, reward points, or an additional gift for their purchase.
9. Conduct A/B testing
Conduct A/B tests to evaluate different designs, calls to action, text, and elements in the checkout process to identify what works best.
Regularly analyze cart abandonment data to identify patterns and areas for improvement.
10. Practice scarcity marketing
Scarcity marketing aims to stimulate demand by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity among consumers.
By offering products or services that are difficult to obtain, they become more desirable to customers. As a result, customers are less likely to abandon the product in their cart out of fear of losing it, creating a sense of urgency to purchase it.
This can be applied by launching limited editions of a product and showcasing customer reviews or the number of people who have purchased the product, making it more attractive and intriguing.
When these strategies are effectively implemented and combined to suit the specific needs of your business, they can be powerful in reducing cart abandonment rates and increasing conversions on an eCommerce site.
Remember that it's essential to continuously measure and analyze results to adjust and optimize these strategies based on data and customer feedback.
