It has happened to all of us. We pick products on a website, add them to the shopping cart and for one reason or another, finally, we do not buy and the order remains in the limbo of unpaid orders.
Facing the abandonment of a shopping cart by customers is something that creates a lot of insecurity in online stores. It is also a problem for many online business owners.
Fortunately, more and more studies reveal the different reasons why abandoned carts appear, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt it to improve the conversion rates in their stores.
Reasons for having abandoned carts
There are many reasons why consumers abandon full shopping carts in an online store. Although, a difficult navigation or a complicated interface to use are some of the main reasons for the abandonment of the shopping cart.
The following are also some of the major reasons shopping carts are abandoned:
1. The inability to save in order to validate later
2. The number of shipping costs is not visible
3. The impossibility of contacting customer support
4. The impossibility of using a third payer
5. The volume of information requested is too high
6. The complexity of the payment process
Seamless checkout tips that can solve the problem of abandoned carts
We will discuss the issue of how to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your online store. Fortunately, more and more studies reveal different reasons why this happens, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt to improve the conversion rates in their stores. We have tried to collect the potential solutions that can be helpful in creating a better experience for your shoppers.
1. Quality customer service
We must pay special attention to communication with the client. E-commerce creates a new way of relating to the consumer, a relationship that is essential for the purchase process to be formalized successfully. The customer service is key. It has to be accessible and impeccable, we must realize that it is the only “contact” the client has with the company, so, even if it is virtual, it must provide adequate trust and demand from the client.
It is proven that when customer support is available at a single click, the abandonment of the shopping cart is reduced by 30%.
In the United States, 21% of online shoppers prefer a chat conversation with the company’s own support.
The ability to respond and the need for more information from the users have made companies to rethink their sales process and a bring a change in their strategy. The importance of knowing each client individually and building a lasting relationship will ensure better sales numbers.
2. Free shipping or discounts
Many online buyers abandon their shopping cart either due to a high shipping cost or the seller has not mentioned about it during the entire purchase process, which may be an unpleasant surprise when they find it at the checkout page.
Also, keep in mind that customers are more likely to buy more products when you offer Free shipping.
3. Show the break-up of the cost
In the shopping cart, there must be a clear break-up of tax, shipping cost, and the final price, as it can mean a considerable difference that causes the customer to abandon their purchase.
Not indicating the final price on the products until the end of the transaction, can shoot the number of abandoned carts on your website
4. Shopping cart must always be visible
Keeping it this way reminds customers to buy. Sometimes the product itself could distract the buying activity so a visible shopping cart will bring the customers to engage with the website.
5. Give them fewer steps
The customers are there to purchase, not just to fill out some irrelevant data. This may seem obvious, but there are still thousands of stores that put obstacles to their customers by adding an increasingly longer purchase process. You should minimize the number of clicks and make the customers buy the product at ease.
Analyze the heatmaps and study the behavior of your website visitors to know where you are failing.
6. Offer several payment options
You need to provide the clients with all possible payment options. The ideal thing would be to be able to pay by credit card, by conventional methods such as bank transfer or counter-reimbursement, by Paypal or even other more alternative methods.
There are many payment alternatives, the more the better. This will eliminate one of the most important barriers that a consumer would encounter.
