3 Ways To Remedy Cart Abandonment

How to ensure your customers complete the purchase cycle

Does your company have abandonment issues—specifically, cart abandonment issues? You’re not alone; cart abandonment rates of over 70% are extremely common.

That means that most people who come to your site, click around, and even go to the trouble of adding something to their digital shopping basket end up not purchasing the items, instead leaving them behind.

Of course, you could chalk it up as a win that people are using your ecommerce site at all—but without those conversions, you could be losing a lot of revenue. Business Insider reports that as much as $4 trillion (with a “t”!) in retail dollars is lost in cart abandonment annually.

So what can you do to get customers to click all the way through until the final purchase?

Be very transparent

Shipping costs are a leading reason that consumers abandon their goods; 44% of shoppers cite high costs as the reason they left a site. Rather than hoping the shipping costs won’t be too much of a sticker shock to back someone off a purchase, be as transparent as possible about that and every other expense.

For example, if you can, show all prices with sales tax included as people shop. Make shipping costs and time part of the process. And don’t wait until the very last step of the process to show coupon savings—people are less likely to reconsider their purchase if they know they’re getting a great deal every step of the way.

Help shoppers navigate the process

A progress bar is a design element that’s easy to overlook—but it can make a big difference for your customer.

Not only does a progress bar somewhat gamify the purchasing process, it also helps shoppers decide what they need to do and how much longer it will take. That way, your customer is less likely to get frustrated and leave your site.

Bonus points: A progress bar that also serves as a navigation tool is even more preferable because it helps them ensure all of their information is correct.

Entice them back and make it easy.

Three-fourths of shoppers say they intend to return to their abandoned carts at some point, so make sure to re-contact them once they’ve left the site. Targeted emails can easily, automatically remind them what they’ve left and prompt them to return.

Once you’ve got them back, though, you have to make it easy. Ensure that the items that are still available are very clear. Whether that means requiring a login to shop, using cookies to remember their orders, or allowing them to add things to a wishlist, if the products that they browsed and added to their cart are apparent and easy to purchase, you’ll increase your return sales.

Cart abandonment can seem like an intractable issue, but with clever design elements, you can help reduce the revenue your company loses due to purchases that never quite come to fruition.

Cart Abandonment Issues? We Can Help.

If you need professional guidance from a group of experts who will invest creative energy and thought into crafting a stellar ecommerce site, consult with the team at efelle creative.

Our team can offer solutions that will make your site content and design really snap!  We are a Seattle web design agency that has been specializing in online marketing, web design, and search engine optimization for over ten years. Give us a call today at 206.384.4909, or feel free to submit an online inquiry.

See Also:

How to Reduce Your Ecommerce Website's Bounce Rate

Your ecommerce website may be telling shoppers to GET LOST!