Do you know that on average an ecommerce store loses 75% of sales due to the high cart-abandonment rate?
In this article we’ll analyze the main reasons that push a user not to complete a purchase in your shop and, above all, we’ll teach you how to identify the most effective methods to avoid this behavior from potential customers.
We know, it’s very frustrating to see a high percentage when we talk about cart abandonment, especially if you have worked hard for your online shop by optimizing your position on search engines, creating a perfect marketing strategy and personally selecting the best products to sell.
The real question you need to ask yourself is: “What else can I do to make it easier for users to purchase in my shop?”
Don’t worry, after reading this article and putting our advice into practice you’ll see the cart-abandonment rate drop significantly, right away!
- Shopping cart: what is it and what is it for?
- 9 reasons why your user might abandon their shopping cart.
- Find out how to reduce cart abandonment.
- 4 tricks to increase your conversion rate.
Shopping cart: what is it and what is it for?
The shopping cart is the section of your online shop dedicated to finalizing an order. Taking a physical comparison, we can say that it’s the digital version of the cash register of any business.
From this cart, however, you can understand much more than a customer who is at the checkout of a physical store. In fact, this is where the final stage of your conversion funnel takes place: the moment in which a user turns into a customer.
The basic functions of a shopping cart are:
- Putting the products you want to buy now or later aside (in case there is no wishlist)
- Changing the number of items previously placed in the cart
- Redeeming vouchers, coupons or discount codes with automatic updating of the final amount
- Having a final overview of the total cost of the order (taxes, shipping costs and discounts)
When the visitor places a product in the cart, they become a potential customer; if your ecommerce does not have a good conversion rate, you can start working on minimizing the percentage of cart abandonment.
But how can I find out the percentage of abandonment of the cart on my ecommerce?
The formula for calculating the abandonment rate is as follows:
(no. processed orders / no. orders) x 100 = % conversion rate
100 – % conversion rate = % cart abandonment rate
Let’s take a more concrete example:
Let’s assume that the total orders are 300 and the orders fulfilled are 80. The calculation to do is: (80/300) x 100 = 26.6% → This value represents the conversion rate.
100% – 26.6% = 73% → This value represents the cart abandonment rate.
9 reasons why your user might abandon their shopping cart.
You’ll never be able to completely eliminate cart abandonment, but understanding what’s driving shoppers not to complete their purchases and being proactive about optimizing critical points will help keep your conversion rate as high as possible.
So let’s analyze some of the factors that most induce cart abandonment:
- Long or confusing payment process.
Buyers want to shop quickly and easily. A complex checkout process and requesting too many blank fields to complete could slow down a visitor when they want to become a customer.
In this case, you don’t risk losing only that sale, but the customer may feel permanently discouraged from buying again on your site. - Unexpected costs.
One of the main causes of the increase in the percentage of cart abandonment are the unexpected costs that usually occur when the buyer enters the shipping information. - Account-creation required.
Requiring users to create an account before checkout is an unnecessary obstacle to purchasing. This is especially true for first-time customers who may not be ready to create an account yet.
If it’s essential for your strategy that the users who buy have a profile on your shop, you should consider the possibility of entering the social login. - Security issues during payments.
Most customers pay close attention to the payments they make online. If the appearance of your shop is not safe and professional, users may decide not to provide personal information and therefore not to proceed with the payment. - Comparative purchases.
Your shop visitors may not be directly interested in buying from you, rather they are researching and wanting to compare before placing an order.
It’s not uncommon for bargain shoppers to add items to a shopping cart, only to eventually buy from another retailer who comes up with a better offer. - Lack of payment options.
Online shoppers want to complete their purchases using the payment methods that are most convenient for them. Some buyers may not be willing to buy using the payment methods you provide. Payment on delivery, PayPal, in installments, Apple Pay, etc: the more types of payments you include, the less the cart will be abandoned. - Ambiguous return and refund policy.
Customers often inquire about return policies and warranties only after placing the items in their cart. An insufficient or ambiguous return policy can lead customers to abandon the idea of buying from your shop. Buyers want to know that if their purchase isn’t to their liking, they can easily return it to the retailer for a refund. - Delivery times are too long.
Buyers expect their items to be delivered in a reasonable amount of time. If they have to wait too long, the value of your shop may decrease and you may be uncompetitive. A customer who wants to receive their product by a certain date may choose to look elsewhere instead of waiting for your delivery. - No discounts/promotional codes to use.
Users often find themselves inundated with offers and promotions from many retailers, so some users may expect your store to offer discounts too, otherwise, they may choose to buy from your competitor.
Find out how to reduce cart abandonment.
What can you do to increase the conversion rate and consequently lower the cart abandonment rate?
First of all, be transparent about all costs. When a customer knows the costs in advance, including shipping costs and taxes, it greatly reduces the chance of cart abandonment.
Include a progress indicator to help users understand where they are along the payment process and how long it takes to complete the payment.
An almost complete progress bar can also act as a visual reinforcement to allow buyers to be more motivated to complete the order.
Another thing you can’t miss is the simplification between cart and shop.
Customers want to quickly add items to their cart and get back to browsing the rest of your catalog as easily as possible. The more your visitors will have to click, the less likely they are to complete the purchase on your store.
Optimize your store especially for mobile. Don’t forget that most users make their purchases from smartphones; a heavy and difficult-to-use ecommerce would greatly reduce the reactivity and a visitor could desist from buying your products.
Give them the ability to make a purchase without having to create an account on your site, such as creating a guest login. Also include as many payment methods as you can. Pursuing customer habits is a great way to acquire many and then retain many.
A solid returns and refunds policy reassures most customers – people like to be sure they can change their mind and obviously get their money back.
Does your customer need to receive your product quickly? Or would they rather pay less and wait longer? Offer them the possibility to choose the type of shipment, express or ordinary. Thus all buyers will be able to identify the option that best suits their needs.
4 tricks to increase your conversion rate.
If, despite these precautions, you realize that the cart abandonment rate always remains very high, you will have to make a greater effort through a mix of marketing techniques:
The exit pop-ups
These pop-ups can make it clear to users that they are abandoning their cart or they can be used to bring out a promotional discount. Sometimes all it takes to get your shoppers to complete their purchase is a discount code.
Retargeting for cart abandoners.
Some buyers require multiple touchpoints before they are ready to buy. Retargeting abandoned-cart users through relevant ads can help you keep the items they viewed or placed in their cart in the foreground. The goal is to encourage your customers to buy by reminding them of the items they left in their cart.
Personalized follow-up emails.
Follow up with customers after they abandon checkout with cart recovery emails. Remind your shoppers that they haven’t completed their purchase yet, and give them a chance to pick up where they left off. To simplify the process, consider creating a direct link. Offering a small discount is also a good way to entice shoppers to re-evaluate their purchase.
Use social proof.
Use this tactic to convince your customers to make a purchase and include reviews from satisfied customers in the cart abandonment email, or product-specific reviews to communicate the great value your products have.
Remember that reducing the cart abandonment rate is only the first step, but afterwards you’ll have to convince your customers to come back to your ecommerce to make a new purchase. At that point, 90% of the choice will come down to quality and post-purchase satisfaction. If you choose to sell only quality products and well-known brands in your shop, it will be much easier to make your business scalable and successful.
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