Are your customers abandoning their shopping carts in droves? Is your online storefront struggling to solidify its sales? Here’s how you can figure out what’s going wrong – and how to fix it.
It’s estimated that online retailers lose somewhere around 67.45% of their sales to shopping cart abandonment. The more you think about that figure, the more insane it seems. We’re talking about the majority of prospective buyers – the majority of purchases that might happen.
You’re literally hemorrhaging leads. The first step in preventing that from happening lies in understanding why it may happen.
Here’s a list of some of the major reasons why your customers might leave before completing a purchase:
1. An annoying or complicated checkout process.
How many forms do you make the user fill out?
How easy is it to change or edit the items in a user’s cart?
What sort of user support do you offer?
2. A bad return policy.
Buying something online can be risky – you have no idea if the product is going to be as-advertised when it arrives.
3. Shipping cost issues.
You’re charging too much for shipping, or you don’t list shipping costs until the end of the purchase process.
4. No option for buying as a guest.
You require the customer to register for an account before they can complete the checkout process.
5. Not enough payment options.
How many debit or credit cards do you support?Do you allow people to pay through Paypal?
6. Your security is suspect.
Are you displaying security logos prominently on your checkout page?
Do you use SSL to protect purchases on your site?
What does your domain name look like – is it overly spammy?
7. They’re looking for a discount before buying.
If you offer coupon codes, some customers might fill their cart and then wait for one to be available before they commit.
8. They forgot about their purchase.
Believe me, that happens more often than you might think.
9. They just decided against it.
Sometimes, you can’t prevent a customer from abandoning their cart – it’s simply something that happens.
Maybe they found a better deal elsewhere, or just decided against the purchase.
Now that you know why people might be abandoning their carts. The next step is to figure out which of those reasons apply to you.
Monitor the purchase process of your customers, and pay attention to the point at which a cart is abandoned.
Beyond that…
Consider updating your domain name.
You can do this through a registrar like GoDaddy, or use an eCommerce provider like Shopify.
Send a cart recovery email.
Send automated, personalized messages to a customer who’s abandoned their cart. Ideally, you want to do this within 24 hours of abandonment, then again in two to three days, and one final time within a week.
Invest in security certificates, and display them prominently.
This is self-explanatory. People want to know they can trust you.
Update your product descriptions and images.
When people don’t know what they’re buying, they’re not going to go through with their purchases – it’s as simple as that.
Simplify your checkout process.
Let people fill in their details and purchase. If it takes more than three or four clicks, you’re doing something wrong.
ecommerce-conversion-rate
Look at your prices.
How do they stack up to your competitors? When you’re consistently charging more, then it might be time to re-evaluate things.
Shopping cart abandonment is an issue that plagues every online retailer, both great and small. By understanding the reasons why your customers abandon their carts, you can ensure it impacts you just a little less.
Floship Guest Post – About the Author
Christina Coons is a professional digital marketer at Northcutt, an inbound marketing agency. She specializes in e-commerce, social media, and public relations, and spends her days helping brands succeed online. Follow the latest inbound marketing news at @NorthcuttHQ
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