Cart abandonment is likely every ecommerce business’ biggest concern. It’s a problem that can be incredibly difficult to solve, but it doesn’t have to be.
You can reduce the abandonment rate and increase conversions by using the right tools and strategy. If your online store uses top ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, this post is a must-read!
What Is Shopping Cart Abandonment?
Shopping cart abandonment is when someone puts items in their shopping cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process. It’s a big problem for eCommerce sites—and it’s getting worse. A Baymard Institute study found the average abandonment rate is around 70%.
That means 7 of 10 people who add items to their shopping carts don’t go through with their purchases. In terms of lost revenue, this translates to $18 billion each year!
The good news is that this number can be significantly reduced with the right ecommerce tools and strategies. Here are seven effective cart abandonment solutions.
Why Do Shoppers Abandon Their Carts?
There are several reasons why shoppers abandon their carts, but they all boil down to one thing: choice. The more options you have, the harder it becomes to make a decision.
You don’t want to buy something just because it’s there—you want what’s best for your needs and tastes. Shoppers are impatient, busy people who want things now (and if they can get them elsewhere with less effort or cost, even better). They also don’t like being distracted from their original intent by other offers or ads in their face as soon as they visit an eCommerce site.
As for convenience? Well…there’s nothing convenient about having to enter credit card information every time you buy something online!
#1 Speed Up Your Site’s Load Time
Site speed is one of the most important factors in determining whether or not a customer will make a purchase. It’s been found that site load time has a direct correlation with an increase in conversion rates (and therefore sales).
To optimize your site’s load time, there are several things you can do:
- Get rid of unnecessary files and scripts on your pages. If you have too many images or JavaScript files loaded at once, this will slow down your page load significantly. Make sure to remove them and include only what’s necessary.
- Tip: You can use Conversios to tackle this issue as this plugin helps you to install scripts like Google Analytics 4, Meta Pixel, and 6 other marketing pixels with Google Tag Manager Implementation.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to host your images and other files. This will ensure that visitors from all over the world can access your site without having to download all of those files at once.
- Use a page speed test tool to see how fast your site loads. This will give you an idea of what needs to be worked on and how much time is being spent loading each page.
- Make sure that your site is mobile-friendly. This means making sure that the content can be viewed and interacted with on a variety of devices, including phones and tablets.
- Use reliable shopping cart apps. The above solutions will be ineffective if you’re using a sub-part shopping cart too. Be sure to choose from examples of shopping cart software cited on unbiased view sites or trusted online software marketplaces.
#2 Make Shipping Options More Visible
Shipping options should be prominently displayed on your site. If you’re a retailer, you need to make sure that your customers can see all of the available shipping options.
You don’t want to have to hunt around for those details. They should be right there on the product page in plain sight so people can easily see them and choose what works best for them.
Likewise, shipping options should be easy to understand. Whether it’s free shipping or flat rate shipping, make sure that there are no hidden fees—and if there are, make sure they’re clearly communicated as such! It might seem obvious enough but sometimes even something as simple as this can get lost in translation when designing ecommerce websites (especially if they were built by someone else).
Moreover, shipping options should be easy to add to the cart and remove from the cart. It should also allow customers to change later on down the line if needed too.
#3 Labor the Point of Free Shipping
Make sure your customers know about the free shipping details. On your website, make sure that your customers know about the free shipping details. If you have a physical store, make sure to post big signs advertising the fact that they can get their goods shipped for free.
Use a discount code to encourage them to add more items to their cart. Use social media to spread the word about your free shipping policy. Promote it on your website, and make sure that the customers know about it.
Offer free shipping on all orders over $50 or $100, depending on how much you want to spend on shipping costs each month. This will encourage customers to buy more items and increase your revenue. You can also offer free or discounted shipping for first-time customers only, which will help them get used to your business and encourage them to make future purchases too.
#4 Offer Price Incentives
Offer discounts for bulk purchases and free shipping for orders over a certain amount. This will help your customers feel like they’re getting a good deal, which can be the difference between them making the purchase or abandoning their cart altogether.
You should also give customers a reason to buy. Offer a limited-time discount or giveaway exclusive products only available to people who purchase within a certain timeframe. You can also use Performance Max campaigns to promote your various offers—which enables you to leverage the internet giant’s massive reach online.
This is a great way to get customers excited about your brand and get them engaged with your business. You can also create loyalty programs that reward customers for their purchases, like offering a percentage off their next purchase or giving them points they can redeem for discounts on future orders.
You can offer this incentive and other promos if you use efficient point-of-sale (POS) solutions. Top POS systems for eCommerce like Square, Lightspeed Retail, and Vend alternatives provide this feature.
#5 Provide Guest Checkout
Guest checkout is a great way to increase conversions and get started with e-commerce. If you’re not currently offering it, consider adding it to your cart tool. It allows visitors to check out with just a few clicks instead of having them create an account first (and then potentially abandon their cart). With this tool, you’ll be able to:
- See how many people are checking out without an account (and how much revenue they’re generating)
- Offer a discount for using the feature or incentivize customers with a coupon code or other promotion
- Collect customer data and segment your audience based on how they check out, including the option to offer a guest checkout only during certain hours, days of the week, or seasons.
#6 Let Them Return to Finish Later
If you’re selling something that requires more than a few minutes to think about, give your customers the option of saving their cart and coming back later. This is especially useful if they need time to mull over an expensive purchase or decide whether they really want what they’ve added to their cart.
Allow them to check out later if they have questions or concerns about making an immediate purchase decision. You can also give them an option of creating an account so that they don’t have to enter all of their information again when returning for another look at your products or services (or whatever).
The last thing we want our customers to do is to abandon our site without ever knowing how much money we lost by doing so!
#7 Enable In-Store Pickup
If you’re a retailer, the best way to reduce cart abandonment is to allow your shoppers the option of in-store pickup. This can be especially effective when combined with other strategies such as keeping shipping costs low or avoiding them altogether.
This option works best if you have customers who live near your physical store or if they live in a place where shipping costs are high. One of the best ways to encourage shoppers to use this feature is by offering them a discount on their purchases when they opt for in-store pickup.
The best way to reduce shopping cart abandonment is to make your checkout process as swift, easy, and painless as possible.
To avoid losing customers at the checkout, you need to make sure that your checkout process is as streamlined and user-friendly as possible. You should provide all the information a customer needs for them to complete the process with ease.
In the end, it’s up to you to decide which checkout method works best for your business. The key is to find one that will reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase sales.
