Best 10 Tips to Kill Shopping Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment is when online shoppers exit without finishing their purchase. It’s quite common in e-commerce.

For sellers, there’s nothing worse than an increased rate of shopping cart abandonment. You invest time and energy to promote your business. You have a website, a marketing, and an advertising strategy and you attract visitors that purchase. But shoppers quit in the last step, and this is something you didn’t expect. It’s disappointing, and you need to stop it and increase your conversions. But how can you kill shopping cart abandonment?

Well, let’s break down this question and get started.

1) Eliminate unexpected charges and fees

For shoppers, it’s frustrating to come across a surprise at the checkout. It is like being asked to pay much more than what’s written on the front page.  Understandably, they will abandon their shopping cart and form a bad impression of your brand. Suppose your competitors sell the same item at a relatively higher price but without any hidden costs. Undoubtedly, they will enjoy a higher conversion rate and a better impression.

Unexpected charges and fees are one of the key factors that kill your conversion rate online. Eliminate hidden charges and give all the info regarding extra costs and fees upfront. Make sure your product price, shipping cost, and surcharges are clear.

2) Offer free shipping

As a study by Walker Sands reveals, 80% of shoppers cite free shipping as the primary incentive for them to shop online. It is easy to see how the shipping cost is affecting online shoppers.

How can you ensure your profit and offer free shipping?

a) Offer free shipping at certain thresholds.

Thresholds ensure your profit and cut down shopper’s expenses. It’s a win-win practice that will increase your average order value and lower cart abandonment. For example, you can offer free shipping for only those orders that are over $50.

b) Put the shipping cost into the product price

Add the shipping cost to the product cost to avoid loss of profit. Test this idea to see if it works.

c) Offer free shipping to shoppers in a certain geographic location

Base this on your warehouse location. For instance, if your warehouse is in Washington, offer free shipping for shoppers near the city.

d) Only offer free shipping for certain products

Base this on a product’s profit or your marketing strategy for inventory clearance. Remember to make it clear upfront for your shoppers.

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3) Optimize your website

When it comes to sales performance, your website matters a lot. Optimize your site to improve customers’ experience. Here are some tips:

a) Improve the website load speed

A fast load speed offers a good website experience. A slow loading speed will undermine customers’ patience and interest in your product. Terrible website load speed will lead to shopping cart abandonment, especially on the checkout page.

Optimize on-page technical elements like plugins and images to minimize load time. Minify CSS and HTML work and get a better web hosting service – we recommend Hostinger. If you know something will take a little longer, be upfront, so visitors know what to expect.

b) Simplify your website navigation

Simplified website navigation gives the customer an excellent experience. They are able to find what they want to buy quickly.

If you make it difficult for customers to find the right product,  you’ll have a lower conversion rate.

Make it easy for customers to save and return to their shopping cart.  Make the quick review and “Add to cart” button easy to be identified.

c) Have a progress indicator on the checkout page

Many online shoppers will abandon their orders because of the long and boring transaction process. Reduce cart abandonment by displaying a progress indicator. A visual indicator shows the customer where they are in the checkout process and how much time is left to complete their transaction.

A progress indicator should include several stages including starting checkout, shipping options, shipping address, billing info, payment, and order confirmation.

4) Consider mobile users

More and more people shop with their smartphones and tablets. If you want to reduce your cart abandonment and increase sales, take mobile users into account. Make sure your website is as user-friendly on smart devices as it is on a computer.

Use mobile-friendly navigation that allows shoppers to tap, pinch, and zoom. Make it easy for customers to add items to their cart and offer a mobile payment solution such as Apple Pay or Google Pay.

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5) Showcase your security measures

Shopping website security is a common concern among shoppers. If shoppers find any insecure elements this will lead to cart abandonment. It’s difficult to build trust so see the security of your website as part of building your credibility. Make sure shoppers feel secure on your website.  Have a valid SSL certificate to protect customers and avoid an insecure connection warning message showing in customers’ browsers.

Be alert to payment security. Include the trust signals on the checkout page and show your customers that their purchasing process is safe and protected. These steps build trust.

Moreover, you can rely on a secure VPN service to protect your network, especially if you have a BYOD policy in place.

6) Simplify the checkout process

As Baymard indicates, 28% of online shoppers abandon their shopping cart due to a complex checkout process. A medium to a large e-commerce website can increase their conversion rate by 35.26% by streamlining the checkout design; shoppers enjoy a streamlined checkout process. How do you simplify the checkout process?
You can offer a one-step checkout and cut down on any unnecessary steps. Offer guest checkout for shoppers who have not registered on your website as some shoppers prefer not to create an account. Moreover, if there are distractions or unnecessary elements on your website, move them or strip them out to simplify.

7) Offer multiple currencies and payment options

Online shoppers will abandon their shopping cart if they come across limited payment options. Offer multiple currencies and payment options to ensure a satisfying, rewarding, and seamless shopping experience.

To cope with customers coming from different places around the world, provide a currency converter that displays the total in their local currency.

When it comes to payment options, include more than one payment method. Credit card payment, PayPal, and mobile payment are the major options. Optimize more options to minimize shopping cart abandonment.

8) Send emails to follow up on the cart abandonment

If someone abandons their shopping cart, email immediately to remind the shopper what they left behind. According to Digital Commerce, follow-up emails are likely to increase your conversion rate significantly.

Send an email with catchy subjects and interactive content to follow up on their abandonment. Embed interactive content in your follow up emails. It can help in re-engaging potential customers as it is inherently personalized. The results are tailored specifically to the customer’s needs.

For instance, one of your potential customers has spent a lot of time browsing the sports watch section of your website. You can send him/her an email that includes an interactive experience like this one:

Personalize the email with interactive content if you can and consider following up as many as three times. Send the first one within the hour, the second one beyond 24 hours, and the third one 72 hours later.

9) Utilize remarketing to target the cart abandoners

It is inevitable to have some abandonment. However, you can bring the customer back with remarketing campaigns. Remarketing boosts sales by getting them back to complete the transaction.

Remarketing ads are available for you to target these abandoners. You can use social networks or other websites with tailored ads to remind your customers about their orders in the cart.  To use remarketing effectively, use the demographics and interest reports from your website’s analytics. Get to know which channel these abandoners belong to and create a remarketing plan to bring them back.

10) Deliver excellent customer service

Shoppers are inclined to walk away if they feel that there is no one to answer their questions during the shopping process.

Customers may encounter a technical issue while shopping or have questions about the product, the shipping policy, and the return policy. If there is no one to help this can be a terrible shopping experience. Consider using the phone, email, live chat, FAQ page, social media platforms, and social media comments. Make sure your brand is available when they need you most.

Conclusion

Shopping cart abandonment is extremely common in e-commerce. If you are an online seller, it might be a headache that hits you from time to time. We hope this blog helped you with some of that. Have any more ideas on the topic? Do let us know!

About The Author:  

Sharline Shaw, the founder of leelineSourcing.com, is an expert on Chinese export trade. With 10 years of experience in the field of sourcing in China, she is familiar with all relevant regulations and laws about China’s exporting. She’d love to share her experience with people and has written many helpful articles.