Imagine if shopping in a supermarket was no different than shopping online….
You would be strolling down the aisle of a department store or supermarket, filling it up as you went.
Suddenly, you might find yourself distracted by a cat playing with a nerf gun, or a baby doing backflips in the aisle next to you.
You abandon your cart, walk towards the next aisle, and watch whatever it was that distracted you from shopping. Once the fascination ends, you forget what you were previously buying and simply walk out of the store.
While this scenario does not seem likely in real life, it happens quite regularly in the world of ecommerce.
Even if you lay down the best plans and get visitors to visit your website to shop, they are bound to close the tab at some point. Who knows, they might get distracted by the trailer for the new season of Lucifer. They may leave, never to return.
This is what shopping cart abandonment means. We say a shopping cart has been abandoned when shoppers add one or more item(s) to a shopping cart on a website but leave it even before finishing the transaction.
Shopping cart abandonment is a crucial problem that online businesses have to overcome.
However, you cannot mitigate against it completely. At some point, someone will abandon their shopping carts right before they cross the finish line. They will not make a purchase.
But, this does not mean that you wave the white flag.
It merely means that you can minimize the losses.
You can improve the ecommerce experience you provide and, thus, combat and reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Are you ready to generate greater demand for your products?
More so than ever before?
Well, what are you waiting for?
Start winning new customers today.
Here are a few tips for you to follow if you want to reduce shopping cart abandonment.
1. Offer Free Shipping
What do you do when you go to a market or a shop and see that something is being given away for free? Do you take it even if you do not need it?
The answer is, “yes!”
No one is blaming you. It is just the way the human mind works.
Who refuses free stuff anyway?
Similarly, if you offer free shipping to your customers, you will definitely notice a fall in the cart abandonment rate.
Most customers think several times before clicking the buy button if the website does not offer free shipping. Sometimes, the shipping fee also exceeds the worth of the product. Thus, any sane online shopper will not order from that store.
What most stores do not realize is that shipping costs create a significant psychological difference when customers are checking out online. A high shipping fee can serve as a deal-breaker. On the other hand, no delivery costs will, more often than not, lead to generating more sales.
Though getting rid of shipping costs can help improve business significantly, not everyone has the financing to offer this opportunity. It is perfectly fine if you cannot offer free shipping. Just make sure to be transparent about your shipping costs. Additionally, it will help your case if you mention this in the shipping policies clearly.
2. Enable Guest Checkout
Most customers, especially those shopping on your website for the first time, do not want to go through the hassle of making an account for a single purchase.
Thus, you need to enable a guest checkout to allow them to feel valued. Time and time again, this tip has proven to be effective in generating more significant sales. Moreover, you get the bonus of reducing shopping cart abandonment rates considerably.
Enabling this feature also allows you to speed up the checkout process.
You can always ask your customers to sign-up or register themselves once they are done buying whichever item they came to buy. Once they create an account, you will be free to send additional promotions their way.
As I see it, it is a win-win situation.
3. Allow Multiple Payment Methods
Let’s talk about facts.
Did you know that about 10% of online shoppers abandon their carts in the middle of checkout because they do not find their preferred payment method?
Some want to pay through PayPal, while some prefer to use Stripe. Many want to have the option of paying via credit cards.
Why is there so much diversity?
Well, some people are comfortable with one payment processor or the other. They would not want to switch to a new method since paying online is a sensitive procedure.
It would serve you well if you offer a mix of a couple of payment processors. This will prevent online customers from abandoning their cart. You can also bring third-party payment processors onboard should the need arise.
Allowing your customers to avail more than one payment option can help you retain more customers, as well.
4. Gain Customers’ Trust
Like every relationship, the one between a buyer and a seller requires trust.
For it to work in the long run, you need to establish a safe passage of trust with your customers.
A lack of trust is common amongst ecommerce websites.
Today’s users are primarily aware of the fraudsters and scammers prowling online. Thus, they are hesitant in giving their information, financial or otherwise, to unfamiliar websites.
To build a strong foundation, you need to make your visitors feel safe.
How can you do that? Well, trust signs, testimonials, and customer reviews, return policy, and certification badges are just a few things that you can do.
With these trust factors, you can help mitigate the concerns of your customers. This is a surefire way of increasing their confidence in your store and website.
5. Offer Live Chat Support
When you are shopping online, have you ever faced a problem and needed an answer to it right away?
What did you do in that case?
Yes, you accessed the live chat support.
This is the same as shopping in-store and having friendly staff help you out with your queries.
A live chat support system mirrors a greater level of attention and care by integrating support options on their website.
This feature can be further helpful to customers if it is well-equipped to solve frequently faced issues. Allow users to figure out their problems right away to minimize cart abandonment.
6. Focus on Personal Outreach
Where having auto-responders is highly recommended, do not entirely rely on them.
They might not always be able to save the day. Instead, try and give your potential customers a personal touch.
As soon as you are notified of an abandoned cart, reach out to the visitor yourself. You may discover that they had a problem with getting the coupon code to work or had trouble getting their card authorized.
Be their knight in shining armor, and it will pay off for sure.
More than anything, customers remember being treated with respect and appreciate you trying to solve their queries. For that reason alone, they will be motivated to complete the transaction and buy the product they intended to.
6. Use a Progress Indicator
Whether it is in-store shopping or online, customers will always hate checkout lines.
But do you know what helps? Checkout lines in stores help them see how many people are standing in front of them. They can count when their turn comes.
However, it is easy to get frustrated online. Customers will get tired of filling page after page of information without even knowing how much progress they have made.
It can get really tiresome.
If you do not want your customer to leave in a huff, then you need to add a progress indicator to your website. It will allow an average customer to find out just how long it will take for them to complete the process and the transaction.
Final Word
With the tips mentioned above, you can quickly reduce the number of shopping carts being abandoned on your website.
If you go the extra mile to make things convenient for your customer, it will definitely be worth it.
Good luck.
