How to reduce shopping cart abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment is one of the key issues facing ecommerce websites. It’s rare that someone dumps a shopping basket when they get to the tills in a physical store and yet the latest figures from the Baymard Institute find an average abandonment rate of 66.22% across a swathe of ecommerce sites.

Research by Forrester found that 88% of shoppers interviewed about their online shopping habits had given up on a sale before buying – which suggests that abandonment is common practice for many online shoppers.

But don’t despair. There are a number of ways you can tackle cart abandonment and get your average rate down.

1.    Reduce the number of pages involved in the check-out process

It makes perfect sense. The more pages a customer has to go through to finalise a payment, the higher the chances are that they will get tired of it and give up. It is important to get the balance right though, if you ask for too much information on one page people could be daunted.

Another good way to streamline the process is to offer an “express checkout” option. Amazon offers something similar, allowing repeat customers to skip the lengthy form filling.

2.    Provide free or reduced price shipping

According to eConsultancy, high shipping charges could be the reason for as much as 77% of abandonment. Many retailers don’t show the shipping costs until the end of the payment process which can annoy customers. Hidden charges should be avoided if possible.

If you can offer free shipping, even if it is only over a certain value, make sure this is obvious. The prospect of getting a good deal could encourage people further.

3.    Make the cart visible throughout the whole process

It will frustrate customers if they have to keep flicking around to see what is in their basket. It is good to allow shoppers to access the cart regardless of what page they are on. Having the items visible can also remind the shopper of what they had chosen and encourage them to fulfil the payment.

4.    Allow moderations to the order

Moderations to the shopping cart such as quantities, payment options and shipping methods should be easy to make. If a customer as to scrap a shopping cart and start again, you are unlikely to get the sale.

5.    Have a variety of payment options

Offering a large variety of payment options at the check-out is a crucial element of making a sale. If  preferred payment option isn’t there for someone, they are likely to leave the sale. You should offer a large range of card options as well as third party choices such as PayPal.

6.    Ask for registration after the sale

If you are looking to collect extra details from new customers, don’t ask them to register until after the payment has been made. The thought of having to fill out a registration form could put people off the sale. Walmart actually gives its customers a choice of registering now or later. The later option still requires an email address but nothing else. This puts less pressure on people.

7. Remind the customer of their abandoned cart

If a shopper does abandon their cart, it’s not necessarily the end of the opportunity. You could send an email at a later date, providing the details of what their shopping cart had in it. They can then either decide to go through with the purchase, or wipe their cart.

8.    Make sure your site is performing as well as possible

If pages are slow to load, your customers are losing out on time – probably one of the main reasons they were online shopping in the first place. If your site is consistently slower than its competitors, they will get the sales in future.