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If you run an e-commerce website and you are interested in maximizing revenue and profit (who isn't?), one of the areas that you will want to focus on is minimizing the number of customers that leave your site when they have items in their carts. If they added the items to the cart in the first place they must have had intention to buy, but something changed their mind.
Abandoned carts are a major challenge for online retailers because it's so easy for visitors to change their mind or move on to something new. By focusing on the issues that we will discuss here you should be able to minimize the percentage of shoppers that leave their carts.
1. Hidden details or surprises
One of the biggest contributing factors to lost sales through abandoned carts is that something unexpected happened, or fees were added to the price that were not expected. When a buyer chooses to make a purchase, he or she is basing that decision on the information they have at that time. When other factors come into play later, they're not likely to respond favorably.
2. Taxes and/or Shipping
Although there is nothing you can do about the amount of tax that must be charged, there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of sales that are lost due to shipping charges. No buyer wants to pay for shipping, but it's often a mystery what the shipping charges will be until the checkout process. Give your shoppers a way to know (at least approximately) what they will be charged for shipping before they get to the end of the checkout.
3. Complicated Processes
Online shoppers prefer shopping online because of its convenience and speed. If a checkout process is cumbersome or confusing, the benefits of shopping from your site are minimal. Cut out any unnecessary steps and do whatever you can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.
4. They decide to shop around
The internet is great for comparison shopping, which means some of your would-be buyers may decide to put off the purchase while they look around a little bit. This can be a difficult challenge to overcome. One method is to offer a low price guarantee where you will refund the price difference if they find it cheaper somewhere else.
5. Not all the products they want are available
Because almost all items that are bought online will require some kind of shipping charges, many buyers will prefer to bundle their purchases so that they are getting multiple items at once, rather than paying for shipping several different times. If this is the case, they may abandon their cart if some of the products that they want are not available at your site. This could apply to products that you do not carry or that are out of stock.
6. Second thought
Buyers may have second thoughts about an item and decide not to purchase it. It's so easy to add an item to an online shopping cart that people often do so without really thinking about the purchase that they are about to make.
7. Confusion
It's not uncommon for a shopper to abandon their cart because they are not sure what to do or because they do not feel comfortable with the process. This used to be more common than it is now as a high percentage of people shop online, but you will still want to make the checkout process as simple as possible so there is no reason to be confused.
8. Payment options
Think about how your typical customer will want to pay for their purchases online. There are a number of different options but you need to make sure that you are catering to the shoppers as much as possible to avoid lost sales. For example, if you only accept one or two types of credit card you will likely lose some sales.
Abandoned carts are a major challenge for online retailers because it's so easy for visitors to change their mind or move on to something new. By focusing on the issues that we will discuss here you should be able to minimize the percentage of shoppers that leave their carts.
1. Hidden details or surprises
One of the biggest contributing factors to lost sales through abandoned carts is that something unexpected happened, or fees were added to the price that were not expected. When a buyer chooses to make a purchase, he or she is basing that decision on the information they have at that time. When other factors come into play later, they're not likely to respond favorably.
2. Taxes and/or Shipping
Although there is nothing you can do about the amount of tax that must be charged, there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of sales that are lost due to shipping charges. No buyer wants to pay for shipping, but it's often a mystery what the shipping charges will be until the checkout process. Give your shoppers a way to know (at least approximately) what they will be charged for shipping before they get to the end of the checkout.
3. Complicated Processes
Online shoppers prefer shopping online because of its convenience and speed. If a checkout process is cumbersome or confusing, the benefits of shopping from your site are minimal. Cut out any unnecessary steps and do whatever you can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.
4. They decide to shop around
The internet is great for comparison shopping, which means some of your would-be buyers may decide to put off the purchase while they look around a little bit. This can be a difficult challenge to overcome. One method is to offer a low price guarantee where you will refund the price difference if they find it cheaper somewhere else.
5. Not all the products they want are available
Because almost all items that are bought online will require some kind of shipping charges, many buyers will prefer to bundle their purchases so that they are getting multiple items at once, rather than paying for shipping several different times. If this is the case, they may abandon their cart if some of the products that they want are not available at your site. This could apply to products that you do not carry or that are out of stock.
6. Second thought
Buyers may have second thoughts about an item and decide not to purchase it. It's so easy to add an item to an online shopping cart that people often do so without really thinking about the purchase that they are about to make.
7. Confusion
It's not uncommon for a shopper to abandon their cart because they are not sure what to do or because they do not feel comfortable with the process. This used to be more common than it is now as a high percentage of people shop online, but you will still want to make the checkout process as simple as possible so there is no reason to be confused.
8. Payment options
Think about how your typical customer will want to pay for their purchases online. There are a number of different options but you need to make sure that you are catering to the shoppers as much as possible to avoid lost sales. For example, if you only accept one or two types of credit card you will likely lose some sales.
About the Author:
Steven Snell is a web designer and has experience with ecommerce web design. He runs CartFrenzy, a gallery that showcases the best e-commerce websites.
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