Struggling with cart abandonment? You’re not alone. Whether you’re a big eCommerce store or a small business, there isn’t a single retailer that doesn’t suffer from cart abandonment. In fact, the Baymard Institute estimates the average eCommerce cart abandonment rate is 69.80%. There are various reasons why shoppers abandon their carts. Payflex has put together list of 6 actionable strategies you can implement today to reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Be transparent about costs
Unexpected costs are one of the primary reasons for cart abandonment. Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes. You’re ready to check out online, but find unexpected added costs to your final total. This can be incredibly frustrating. Therefore, transparency is crucial. Be upfront about extra costs associated with ordering from your store upfront. This is specifically relating to shipping, taxes and delivery fees. These unexpected costs encountered at checkout drives customers to reevaluate buying decisions.Therefore you should reconsider your shipping costs, either offering free delivery for a minimum order amount, or free shipping all together.
Remove the account creation roadblock
In theory, user accounts are a win-win for both customers and retailers. Customers receive personalised shopping experiences as well as exclusive discounts and offers. While merchants receive customer data, enabling them to provide a stronger end-to-end customer experience. However, for many time-pressed shoppers, creating a new account is a major reason for cart abandonment. In fact, just over 20% of consumers said they would be more likely to abandon their purchase if they were forced to sign up just to finish their sale.This issue can be easily fixed by offering a guest checkout option.
Make sure you’re available 24/7
Customers often have questions or concerns holding them back from buying. This might include product-specific questions or questions around shipping. Having a live chat on your site is a strong strategy to prevent cart abandonment, enabling the customer to get their questions answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, it prevents a number of missed conversion opportunities by enabling the customer to receive answers to their important questions.
Harness social proof to build trust
Social proof is a key strategy to reduce cart abandonment. Shoppers place huge value on the opinions of other shoppers. In fact, nearly nine out of ten consumers worldwide make the effort to read reviews before buying products. Retailers must therefore harness the power of social proof to help hesitant customers make up their minds.
Provide a variety of payment options
Having a limited number of payment options is a major reason why buyers end up abandoning their carts. If shoppers don’t see their desired payment method on your site, they will most likely not proceed with their purchase. Therefore, providing customers with multiple payment options can be instrumental in helping to reduce cart abandonment rates. In addition, you need to ensure you offer flexible payment options like Payflex’ buy now pay later platform. Flexible payment options are a seamless way to drive continued consumer spending in uncertain economic times, providing shoppers with the opportunity to get what they need now and only pay later.
Recover sales with abandoned cart recovery emails
Abandoned cart recovery emails are an excellent strategy to try and recover lost sales. According to Moosend, 45% of abandonment emails are opened, 21% of customers click through, while 50% of those users completed their order. Use the email as an opportunity to entice the end user to complete their purchase by offering them an exclusive discount or promotion on the items in their cart. It is important to note that regardless of the reason your shopper left the cart, you have a limited window to win them back. Your email should therefore be sent as soon as possible. GetElastic saw that companies who sent their first recovery email within the first 20 minutes saw an increase in conversions by 5.2%.
Cart Abandonment – Back to you
Let’s face it, car abandonment will always be an issue. You’ll never be able to convert 100% of your prospects into customers no matter how hard you try. But, as you can see, there are some foolproof strategies to reduce cart abandonment significantly. As a retailer, you may have to experiment or blend some of these strategies to find what works best for you. Bottom line is, your primary goal should be removing friction from the shopper journey at every stage. This is central to driving conversions and reducing cart abandonment.
