Save Your Shoppers; Reduce Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment is one area that plagues us all, especially if you are in the ecommerce game. In today’s blog post, I wanted to review some changes I recommend to clients trying to reduce their shopping cart abandonment rates.
Some Interesting Data
56% of consumers left due to unexpected costs (like extra shipping or taxes)
37% made no purchase because they were just browsing
36% found a better price after comparison-shopping
25% left because the navigation was too complicated
21% felt the process took too long
17% were concerned about security
Recommendation #1: Exit Intent Pop-Ups
Having a specific exit intent pop-up with a coupon code show up if they try to exit the checkout process. I don't like always offering discounts, but it seems to work well. Could be just talking more about your company, showing customer reviews, or just re-enforcing the current offer you have going on right now.
Recommendation #2: Free Shipping
You really don’t want to introduce unexpected costs to the potential customer in the checkout. This could be shipping costs. That’s why I almost always recommend free shipping. And this shouldn’t just be at the shipping step of checkout. It should be everywhere through your website and throughout the entire checkout process.
Recommendation #3: Tell Them Why You Are Asking for Certain Information
This is especially true when asking for a phone number. Add a line of text on why you are asking for their phone number. Possibly adding (For Shipping Related Questions or Just In Case We Need to Contact You About Your Order).
Recommendation #4: Show Trust & Security
Add some sort of security imagery throughout the website. This could be in the form of a lock on the buttons as your progress through the website or adding a 3rd party security service.
Recommendation #5: Countdown Clock
Adding a countdown clock in the checkout that states the time that your purchase will be saved for. This is very popular on ticket buying websites, but more ecommerce sites have begun to use it to show a sense of urgency.
Recommendation #6: Shipping Options
Listing the specific type of shipping you offer. USPS, UPS, Fedex etc. Some people might want to ship to a post office box, which doesn't allow Fedex for example. Or do you offer signature based shipping for people that are spending a lot of money with you? The last thing I would want to do is spend $2,000 and have the package left on my doorstep. Or is it insured, so if that did happen, it would be covered. Something like Route Insurance might be something to consider.
Recommendation #6.5: Processing Times
I see many sites that say "Not Including Processing Time", which is very vague. This can frighten people off that need it quickly. Does it mean today or next week? I would have no actual idea when I am getting my order. Would be better to be more specific such as "Ships Out in 48 hours" or “Same Day Shipping”.
Recommendation #7: Fraud Prevention Tools
Are you using a fraud prevention tool such as Kount, NoFraud, Signifyd or Riskified. It would be interesting to find out what percentage of transactions they are declining. Might be time for a review or a switch, because declining legitimate orders is a problem.
Recommendation #8: When Do You Charge Their Credit Card
Many potential buyers don’t like it when you charge their card without shipping it out first. When a potential customer clicks “Complete Purchase”, are they charged right there, or not until it actually ships? If when it ships, make sure to state that, customers love it!
Recommendation #9: Refunds & Returns
Adding information about your generous return/refund policy. "Don't Worry, We Have a Full 60 Day Return Policy". This eases an fears about not being able to return the item and seeing their isn't much risk of spending a big amount without seeing it in person. Only do this if you have a generous refund policy.
Recommendation #10: Do an Exit Poll
If you still find that you are having a high abandonment rate in your cart, you could always try adding a exit poll or survey. Hotjar has a free one that you can implement just for this case. If might give you better information on exactly why these potential customers are dropping out.
Bonus Recommendation: Remarketing
Remarketing should be a part of your entire shopping cart abandonment strategy. This can be from capturing their email address from your exit intent pop-up, capturing their email from the email field you have in your checkout, or even using a 3rd party such as GetEmails.com to grab their emails without even asking for them! Another way is through social media. You can remarket to them through their social media news feed. This is easy to set up. And the last recommended way is through SMS. You could remarket to them through texts (with their permission in checkout of course).
I hope this helps! And if you have any questions about this list or implementing these changes, make sure to contact us to help!