An abandoned cart is one of the major challenge faced today by online store owners, especially with the proliferation of digital innovations, including the speed at which retailers and businesses have adapted to the e-commerce space.
However, you must take into account that even before the pandemic, the demand for online shopping has been growing steadily and successfully for many years. Of course, this is due to the fact that e-commerce, consumers can easily shop almost anywhere from the comfort of their homes, and retailers aren't just limited to local buyers. They can sell to anyone in the world.
Even with all the improvements to the shopping experience, we still have a long way to go in turning abandoned cart into paying customers.
There are a number of reasons why abandoned cart happens in your store at the checkout stage, regardless of their intent or enthusiasm
It might look something like this: First, you select your preferred items, check each item, eagerly press the “Add to Cart” button, and then on the checkout page you suddenly realize that there is a big problem. The self-negotiating crippled then asks, “Is this really necessary now?” Or “You may have to wait until you pay your child's tuition or owe a credit card.”
After a long struggle with a conscience about the commitment to order, you decide that the purchase now is not worth it. This process is what we call “abandoned cart or cart abandonment,” and it's just one of many drop-outs occurring at retailers worldwide.
The Baymard Institute did a study that showed the average shopping abandoned cart rate at 69.80%. That means 7 out of 10 buyers do not follow their orders, which is really sad.
What industries have the abandoned cart issues
Wait before starting the question, “In what industry is this abandoned cart is happening?” Shopping cart abandonment is not an isolated event that occurs in a specific niche or industry. This buyer abandoned cart occurs in any niche or industry.
Even writing this down doesn't make me feel good because we're all in it together. However, this guide covers up-to-date cart abandonment statistics. It includes up-to-date cart abandonment rates across industries, demographic analysis of cart abandoners and cart abandonment costs, and information on how to improve conversion rates.
What causes cart abandonment?
Well, there are a lot of reasons why shoppers never see it through to the checkout process and that is what we shall be explaining in this article, we’ll also help to identify the solutions to help reduce the odds of cart abandonment and alleviate eCommerce pain points for both you and your shoppers after we must have explained what cart abonnement is.
What is Cart Abandonment?
Cart abandonment also known as shopping cart abandonment is referred to the cases in which a visitor browsing an online store, adds an item to their store cart, and later left without making a purchase.
This is one of the most significant contributors to losing sales in the eCommerce industry
Even with all the dynamic landscape growth in the eCommerce industries, cart abandonment remains one of the biggest challenges fought by all digital marketers today.
Reasons for Cart Abandonment
You can imagine after doing everything you can in generating foot traffic on your sites maybe through paid social media, hyper-targeted web ads, social media influencers, or email marketing and later end up losing them. There is nothing as frustrating as losing a potential customer to something you would have been able to prevent or better still reduce to minimal.
These articulated and actionable steps outlined below if implemented properly will help in reducing cart abandonment and increase your conversion rate significantly.
1. Unusual high costs.
Nothing is more annoying than realizing that the total cost seen by the customer in the early stages of the order will exceed the total cost. You will notice that hidden charges have been added. These extra costs, added to the total cost, are one of the biggest hurdles for buyers, especially if they are completely unexpected.
Hidden extra charges that cause cart abandonment
- Shipping
- Taxes
- Service fees
- Location
2. Compulsory account creation during checkout.
Imagine that a potential customer is browsing their social media accounts and stumbles upon a highly targeted ad that turns out to be your product with great features. And they were convinced after a few clicks, then on your checkout page to place the order, and just saw a prompt asking them to create an account.
This usually happens among new buyers who find the checkout process cumbersome or stressful. After all, it is a non-negotiable deterrent that makes buyers completely abandon their shopping carts.
3. Limited payment system.
Limited payment gateways affected me when I was starting my eCommerce store because I used single payment. There was no option for them to choose from and once they are not satisfied with my single payment system, they will lose interest
Availing shopper with different options is natural consumer behavior and it’s one we must all align with as a store owners.
Even though it is not right for anyone to tell you how you should operate your store, it is very important that since you are serving the public you must do what they want.
4. Website security concerns.
When it comes to important buyer information, questions about site reliability factors (the impression that online stores don't have payment security measures or payment services) are enough to get them away. The lack of trust badges, SSL certificate also known as secure socket layer, and similar promotional stickers is a common reason shoppers doubt the security of store information.
Customers trust your online store more if you use trust badges, SSL seals, and similar image-enhancing stamps.
With TrustBadge, shoppers never leave their cart. why? Because they know that your payment process is secure!
5. Website slow page load
The world is moving rapidly into a digital age where everyone wants solutions at the push of a button. Today, from offline to online newspaper sales. In order for your business to continue to exist, you must have a business, blog or portfolio website. But what if your site is displaying content slowly? In a fast-changing world, did you know that being slow means death? Sites that load slowly will annoy your potential customers. If your website is slow and loads in a matter of seconds, you will have tons of visitors going to other websites.
How loading time affect your store
Pulling stats from the Kissmetrics blog, 40% of users leave the site, loading times exceeding 3 seconds. 40% is a huge percentage of the loss. A study by Euro VPS found that a 1-second delay in website loading can reduce conversion rates by 7%. Because marketing isn't cost-effective these days, and cost-effective marketers aren't effective. You pay to invest in marketing first, and then you lose leads to slow websites. That doesn't mean you shouldn't invest in marketing. To get the best return on your marketing investment, you need to optimize your website. So, in 3 seconds, we already lost 21% of our conversions
6. Window shopping.
People browsing your e-commerce store can randomly and spontaneously add their favorite items to the cart without any program in mind and end up abandoning it due to a lack of significant purchase intention..
Because e-commerce stores never close, shoppers can view the store at any time of day or night and add items to their cart in seconds. So, giving up “shopping store” happens to all online marketers, but in this case, you came to the store to enjoy browsing the web or just want to let go of certain things that bothered you.
How to avoid cart abandonment
As we all know, there are challenges to online shopping. But that doesn't have to be true of your store. Most of the main causes of abandoned carts are within the control of the salesperson. Here are ways to help buyers complete their orders with confidence.
1. Shipping cost.
Transparency should become the gold standard as online shopping becomes the mainstream choice for people. No one likes last-minute surprises, especially at checkout. Not everyone can offer free shipping, but retailers should try to make this as clear as possible. If you wish to charge a shipping fee, please notify the purchaser in advance at checkout or on the website.
You can also increase cost transparency in your store when you add a shipping calculation tool. When a customer has access to a tool on your website that allows them to enter their zip code. In this way, shoppers know what to expect at checkout and ideally help reduce the chances of the cart being abandoned. This can increase the conversion rate
2. Friendly check out page.
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to create a friction-free checkout process is to eliminate mandatory account creation. Rather than forcing new shoppers to create an account, they may otherwise not be interested in, simply allow them to place an order as a guest. Not only will this be easy for first-time shoppers, but by making the checkout process as smooth as possible, the effortless experience will leave a positive impression and possibly encourage shoppers to revisit your site.
Another way to optimize the checkout process is to add Sezzle as a payment option. New or existing Sezzle users are able to quickly checkout without requiring a log-in for your eCommerce site. Sezzle is designed to make the checkout process as fast as possible, especially for recurring shoppers. For anyone new to Sezzle, the approval decisions are instant, which means new shoppers can get through checkout without a hitch.
3. Part-payment
As with deposits, you may need to add some payment options to your store's checkout page. This allows the buyer to choose a payment method. Half of the total amount or slightly less than the total amount will decrease site abandonment
Buyers who see this method are less hesitant to place an order because there are financial advantages to splitting the payment over time. Partial payments give shoppers the confidence to buy what they need at the right time, which can result in larger cart sizes and more frequent orders. .
4. Offer different payment options.
It's no secret that everyone has their own payment preferences. Buyers are usually attracted to specific bids based on a product or service. If you don't get the option for them to chosen payment method, you can lose quickly. At best, buyers don't dare return, they can compromise and use a different payout.
5. Buy now pay later
If you can explore alternatives like buy now or pay later, Sezzle is the perfect add-on to expand your payment versatility. Users who view the Sezzle widget are more likely to convert orders and increase their cart size. Because buyers can get what they need faster with a flexible payment schedule. The popularity of “buy now and pay later” services has skyrocketed, especially in light of the pandemic. Buyers are more partial to the concept of paying for installment purchases. And with Sezzle, buyers will not suffer high-interest rates if they pay on time. This is why over 47,000 sellers trust Sezzle
6. Trust.
It is impossible to 100% eliminate the anxiety associated with the transfer of personal or confidential information such as credit card information. But at least retailers can reassure shoppers in a few effective ways. Show buyers that their information is protected by a seal of trust.
7. Review
In addition to adding basic security measures, there are other ways to earn the trust of your customers. For example, scrolling through the testimonials of satisfied customers is often seen as a source of truth about new buyers and how they test a company or product. Inspire customer trust by adding reviews and testimonials, as well as photos of real people submitted by satisfied customers. Also, a money-back guarantee is another way to earn your customers' trust.
8. Cart cookies
Adding a shopping cart cookie makes it easier for shoppers to complete orders and avoid re-entering information all the time, which can drive more purchases. Also, after discarding the cart, you will need toemail them with an email recovery cart abandonment to restore the cartso that they can complete it later.
9. Responsive store
Responsive design consists of reacting to the size of the device viewing your website (desktop, tablet, smartphone, etc.), resizing and information, and displaying components correctly and in order. These exercises are also essential to success online. Technology is changing and so are the ways we access the Internet. So, if your store is not optimized for mobile devices, you lose a lot of potential buyers.
Final thought
With so many reasons to give up a shopping cart, making a one-time decision can feel overwhelming for eCommerce leaders. But the key to lowering cart abandonment rates is removing the points of friction that prevent shoppers from making quick and easy purchases. This can help change the flow of cart abandonment and possibly save bonds with “those who have left”.
By implementing the above best practices, you can get started right away. Be aware of costs and charges in advance, as some processes are premium and others are freemium. But the bottom line is that you need to create a smooth checkout process, offer as many payment options as possible, build trust with shoppers, and give your customers flexibility in checkout.
Thank you for reading, let’s have your thought in the comment section… SHALOM
