How to Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment and Complete the Sale

How to Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment and Complete the Sale

Don't let shopping cart abandonment put a dent in your ecommerce website's bottom line.

The holiday season is just around the corner, so there's no better time than now for ecommerce business owners to minimize shopping cart abandonment and ensure that more purchases are completed. According to Baymard Institute, 65.95% is the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate. And a survey of over 3,000 shoppers by Forrester showed that the following are the top 5 reasons why people abandon their shopping carts:   

1. 44%: Shipping and handling costs were too high
2. 41%: Were not ready to purchase the product
3. 27%: Want to compare prices with other websites
4.  25%: Product price was higher than they were willing to pay
5.  24%: Wanted to save products for later consideration

As these survey results show, price is the primary reason why people abandon their shopping carts. Therefore, ecommerce business owners need to consider the prices of their products in comparison to competitors. They also need to take shipping costs into account. 

Improving the Effectiveness of Your Checkout Page

Offer free shipping and free returns to encourage customers to complete their purchases. Avoid placing a coupon code form on the checkout page because people might see it and then abandon your site to look for coupon codes. If they can't find any or they get distracted, they may not return. Only display a coupon code entry form for customers who were offered a coupon code upon entering your website.  

Some features that may improve the effectiveness of an ecommerce checkout page include a "back" link that enables shoppers to return to the previous page, clear calls-to-action that make it obvious what shoppers have to do next, thumbnails showing exactly which products customers are buying, an "edit" button that enables shoppers to make changes, and a progress indicator showing customers exactly where they are in the checkout process. Prominently display customer support contact information, so confused customers know exactly how to get in touch with your company. 

Best Practices for Decreasing Shopping Cart Abandonment

Make the checkout process as simple and straightforward as possible. Don't require customers to jump through hoops to place an order. Yes, that means you shouldn't force them to register for an account before making a purchase. Additionally, don't wait till the last minute to display shipping costs because customers find it aggravating. Instead, be upfront about shipping costs, so your customers know exactly what they're getting into.   Offer your customers price guarantees, such as a "Lowest Price Match" guarantee, to increase their satisfaction and prevent them from abandoning their carts to compare prices with other websites. Another way to reassure customers on the path to checkout is featuring testimonials and positive reviews from previous customers, so they feel more confident making a purchase from your website.

When customers abandon their shopping carts, don't consider it a lost cause. Reach out to them by sending them a follow-up email that offers to help them or answer their questions. You should also use shopping cart software that automatically saves abandoned carts, so customers are reminded of the items they previously selected when they return to your site. 

Increase Ecommerce Sales with efelle's Shopping Cart Software

Lower shopping cart abandonment rates and start generating more revenue with efelle's shopping cart software and ecommerce website design services. For more information or to set up a free consultation, give our ecommerce marketing specialists a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form. 

See Also:

How to Reduce Your Ecommerce Website's Bounce Rate

7 Ways to Grow Your Ecommerce Website's Sales and Revenue