What Causes Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Shopping cart abandonment is unavoidable, but you can make a big difference with a small Improvement. Shopping cart optimization campaigns that are successful are learned through trial and error. Many people confuse the phrase “optimization” by thinking it should only apply to optimizing for search engines. In fact, if they sell products or services, they also need to focus on revenue and profit. 

There are over 1.79 trillion dollars left in abandoned shopping carts in the current market. What role do you think your eCommerce website have played in this obstacle? Shopping cart abandonment  occurs when customers visit a site, sees something they like, clicks “add to cart”, but never purchases it. 

For site owners, shopping cart abandonment is on the rise. According to Baymard Institute, 69.23% of online shopping carts are abandoned. Do the math: Out of every 100 potential customers, 70 leave without purchasing. How much revenue would you gain if you captured those sales instead of losing them?

The Baymard Institute further states, “the percentage of users who abandon their shopping carts on mobile devices and tablets differs:  

• Desktop: 69.75% 
• Mobile: 85.65% 
• Tablets: 80.74%”

If you wish to avoid giving a bad first impression and increase your profits, it is vital that your site is designed and optimized for a seamless user experience. 

How to increase sales and decrease shopping cart abandonment

A typical eCommerce website design has a homepage, a category page, and an item page, which drive traffic to the core business pages through the checkout process. Unfortunately, most businesses fail to optimize their checkout page.

Absence of a Call to Action could result in Shopping Cart Abandonment

It’s important to clearly outline what shoppers should do next after adding items to a shopping cart. You can accomplish this by sending shoppers a message confirming the products they have added, as well as next steps.

Continue with a strong call to action (CTA) on the shopping cart page, with two different checkout options and prominent links. When shoppers are provided with a clear CTA, they shouldn’t abandon a shopping cart due to confusion.

The cost of shipping might also be a cause of Shopping Cart abandonment.

Lack of actual shipping costs is a second reason shopping carts are abandoned near the end of the checkout process. In other words, customers can add items to their cart to figure out the actual shipping cost. Or,  they intend to buy from those sites before being discouraged by the high shipping costs. In order to cater to customer preferences, sites should have a variety of delivery options available.

The inability to see or figure out the total order cost upfront is a common reason for cart abandonment. A Baymard survey found 21% of customers abandoning due to ‘hidden’ costs. 

Not overlooking It can be challenging to be transparent about shipping charges when they vary by location. In such a case, an online shipping calculator could be added to product pages that allows shoppers to enter their zip code to receive an estimate of shipping costs.

Payment options are another factor that can lead to cart abandonment

In recent years, alternative payment methods have emerged, but debit and credit card payments have remained popular. Offering payment options  enables retailers to cater to diverse customer preferences. Also keep in mind, buying online creates the greatest security concerns due to credit card fraud.

In order to guard against that, make sure your site displays the following elements: 

• You can use HTTPS or an SSL certificate (the little lock in the address bar of your browser), which informs the customer that you are certified secure and that their information is secure. 
• Payment methods that are secure, including PayPal and other popular payment options, create a more relaxed shopping experience for your customers. 
• Ensure transparency by listing your business’ registration information, physical address, telephone number, etc. 

Shopping cart abandonment due to long forms

Customers who enter checkout with the intent to purchase can be discouraged due to lengthy checkout forms, or forms. When forms are well designed, it reduces the effort users must make during the checkout  process. Furthermore, the links to the customer service and the callback options need to be prominent. So users can contact  customer service if they need it during checkout.

Like manner, customers sometimes decide not to purchase when retailers require them to create an account before entering checkout. If the user decide a form is too much hassle to go through the check out process they will abandon their cart. Offering options can help remove one potential cause for cart abandonment.

Simple Form

The screenshot above shows that Apple allows customers to register after checking out instead of forcing them to submit their data up front.

There are a variety of reasons why people abandon their carts 

People may abandon their carts temporarily for various reasons. They may want more time to think about the purchase, they may be interrupted, or they might want to talk to a friend or family member.

Once again, the ideal word is options. Implementing a save basket message can reduce cart abandonment and remove the hassle of selecting items and options again.

Conversion messages can work wonders

A targeted on-site conversion message can reduce abandonment for shoppers who are wavering. Urgency messages can be displayed, telling shoppers how popular the product is, or the discounts they’ll miss if they abandon.

The use of emails and SMS can encourage customers to revisit the checkout page

Our users inform us daily that customers still abandon their carts and baskets despite the super-smooth checkouts and assistance offered. In this situation, email campaigns and SMS messages can be used to entice customers back to checkout.

SMS mobile marketing has become increasingly popular with online retailers. Yet few use it specifically to recover abandoned carts. However, cart abandonment SMS can actually be quite effective when used independently or in conjunction with email automation workflows. 

Live Chat is an excellent way to reduce shopping cart abandonment

A live chat feature on your site can prevent shopping cart abandonment. Make it accessible throughout the checkout process, and it will definitely improve conversions. To make the most of it, make sure that it is easy to access to minimize guesswork.

Wrapping Up

The abandonment of shopping carts costs retailers around the world billions of dollars per year. Recovering even a small percentage of those transactions can dramatically increase revenue. In order to learn what works on your eCommerce Website and what does not, you need to optimize, measure, and iterate your shopping cart for success.

Failure to do so will likely result in your website not growing at the rate you should. Utilizing heat mapping and A/B split testing is a great way to test and improve your checkout pages. A website’s design will never be finished; you need to constantly improve and update it to remain relevant.The good news is that these shoppers have already selected goods and chosen to purchase them. They’re far enough along their shopping journey that you shouldn’t have difficulty rekindling their interest and converting them again.