Introduction to Shopping Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment occurs when a customer places items in their online shopping cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase. This is a major issue facing ecommerce businesses today.
According to industry research, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is around 70%. This means 7 out of 10 potential customers are adding products to their cart but not checking out. As a result, ecommerce sites are losing out on a significant number of sales opportunities.
High abandonment rates directly hurt a company’s bottom line revenue and conversion rates. All the effort put into attracting site visitors and getting them interested in products is wasted if they bail out at the last step. It’s the equivalent of bringing a customer to the register with a full cart, only to have them walk out of the store without buying.
For ecommerce site owners, it’s crucial to understand why cart abandonment happens and take steps to reduce it. Even small decreases in abandonment rates can lead to big revenue gains. This guide will provide actionable tips to help ecommerce businesses improve their checkout process, build trust, and recover more lost sales from abandoned carts.
Reasons Customers Abandon Their Carts
Abandoned shopping carts are a major issue facing ecommerce businesses, with the average cart abandonment rate around 70%. There are several key reasons that lead shoppers to leave items sitting in their online carts without completing the purchase:
Extra Costs Like Shipping Fees and Taxes
Many customers are initially drawn in by the base price of a product, before getting turned off when extra costs like taxes and shipping are added at checkout. Sticker shock from high shipping fees is a top cart abandonment reason, especially if free shipping options are not clearly communicated. Unexpected taxes and duties are another source of surprise costs that can cause shoppers to ditch their carts.
Need More Time to Think Over Purchase Decision
Shoppers today tend to browse and add items to their cart across multiple sessions before purchasing. Needing more time to evaluate options and think over a buying decision is cited by many cart abandoners. Some customers intend to return and complete the purchase later, but end up forgetting or changing their mind.
Lack of Trust and Security Concerns
First-time customers may lack trust in an unfamiliar ecommerce brand, and have concerns about payment security or product quality. Without established credibility and social proof elements like reviews and testimonials, doubt can creep in and cause shoppers to hesitate on completing their transactions.
Difficult Checkout Process Especially on Mobile
A confusing, frustrating checkout process will lead many shoppers to give up and abandon their carts before paying. Small mobile screens make entering lengthy checkout forms especially difficult, and a lack of guest checkout or saved payment options adds friction. Streamlining checkout is key to reducing cart abandonment.
No Guest Checkout Option
Requiring customers to create an account before purchasing is a deal-breaker for those who want to check out quickly as a guest. Shoppers are unlikely to take the time to register and fill out lengthy forms, and will simply bail on their cart instead of completing this extra step.
Tips to Reduce Abandoned Carts
Reducing your ecommerce store’s abandoned cart rate takes some strategic efforts, but can have a big impact on recovering lost sales. Here are some of the most effective ways to decrease cart abandonment:
Offer free shipping or discounts on shipping over certain order values. One of the biggest reasons for abandoned carts is unexpected shipping costs at checkout. Providing free shipping or discounts if customers spend over a minimum amount (e.g. $50) can incentivize them to complete their purchase. Make your shipping costs and policies transparent upfront too.
Streamline the mobile checkout process. With over 50% of shopping done on mobile, a difficult checkout on mobile is a dealbreaker. Ensure one-page checkout on mobile, auto-fill forms, and make buttons big and easy to click. Optimize your site for mobile to reduce cart abandonment.
Send abandoned cart recovery emails. Emailing customers who left items in their carts gently reminds them to complete the purchase. Time the emails well, personalize them, and offer an incentive to come back and checkout. This can recover up to 25% of abandoned carts.
Use exit-intent popups to capture abandoning users. Exit-intent technology detects when a user is about to leave your site and triggers a popup. This is a prime opportunity to offer a discount code or other offer to entice them to stay and convert. The conversion rates for exit-intent popups are 2-3x higher than other popups.
Provide first-time customer discounts. Offering initial discounts or perks for a customer’s first purchase can nudge new visitors to become paying customers. This builds trust and incentivizes them to complete the transaction.
Accept multiple payment methods. Giving customers various payment options like PayPal, Apple Pay, bank transfers increases the chances they’ll find an option they’re comfortable with and complete checkout. Support the payment methods your customers prefer.
Implement trust badges and social proof. Lack of trust is a key reason shoppers abandon their carts. Display security badges, customer testimonials, reviews, satisfaction guarantees, or other trust signals to reassure customers and reduce cart abandonment.
Implementing an Abandoned Cart Strategy
Setting up an automated abandoned cart strategy is crucial for recovering lost sales. The first step is integrating your email service, CRM, and analytics to identify cart abandonment triggers. When a shopper leaves items in their cart without checking out, an automated email can be triggered to remind them to complete their purchase.
Test different email copy and incentives to determine what motivates your customers best. Offering a small discount like 10% off or free shipping can nudge some shoppers to return. Others may respond better to limited-time scarcity offers like “20% off if you complete your purchase in the next 2 hours”.
Exit-intent popups are another powerful abandoned cart recovery tool. These popups are displayed when a user tries to leave your site and can highlight special deals for abandoning shoppers. Personalization is key – displaying the items they left behind increases conversion rates.
Continuously optimize and iterate on your abandoned cart strategy over time. Pay attention to analytics to identify points of abandonment, such as during shipping option selection or at checkout. Run A/B tests on your emails and popups to determine the best incentives, copy, timing, and design. A solid abandoned cart strategy can recover up to 25-50% of lost revenue for ecommerce merchants.
Conclusion
Shopping cart abandonment is a major issue facing ecommerce businesses, with average rates hovering around 70%. However, there are several proven strategies merchants can implement to help reduce abandoned carts and recover more sales.
The key tips covered in this guide include offering free shipping, simplifying mobile checkout, sending cart abandonment emails, using exit intent popups, providing first-time customer discounts, accepting multiple payment methods, and building trust through social proof elements. Combining several of these tactics into a cohesive abandoned cart recovery plan can help recapture 25% or more of lost sales.
Every ecommerce owner should make reducing shopping cart abandonment a priority. The numbers speak for themselves – with hundreds of billions in lost revenue annually, even marginal improvements in recovering abandoned carts can translate into significant revenue gains.
What causes shopping cart abandonment?
Key reasons include extra costs like shipping fees and taxes, the need for more time to decide, lack of trust and security concerns, a difficult checkout process, and no option for guest checkout. Addressing these can help reduce abandonment rates.
How can ecommerce stores reduce cart abandonment?
Strategies include offering free shipping, streamlining mobile checkout, sending recovery emails, using exit-intent popups, providing first-time customer discounts, accepting multiple payment methods, and implementing trust badges and social proof.
What are effective abandoned cart recovery tactics?
Effective recovery tactics involve automated emails triggered by cart abandonment, offering discounts or free shipping, using exit-intent popups to capture users’ attention before they leave, and personalizing reminders with items left in the cart.
How can ecommerce businesses implement an abandoned cart strategy?
Start by integrating email services, CRM, and analytics to identify abandonment triggers. Test different email copy, incentives, and exit-intent popups. Personalize communications and continuously optimize the strategy based on analytics and A/B testing results.
Why is reducing shopping cart abandonment important?
Reducing cart abandonment is crucial because it directly impacts a company’s revenue and conversion rates. Improvements in the checkout process and recovery tactics can lead to significant gains, helping to reclaim a portion of the billions lost in sales annually.
