Demystifying the mysteries of Shopping Cart Abandonment – Part 2/3

This post is global in nature and the insights are true for all countries. This is the second part of a three-part series covering the following:

1. Reasons for shopping cart abandonment,


2. Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment rate


3. Ways to bring back the customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart.

In the first part we analyzed why a shopper abandons the shopping cart before making a purchase. In this part I will discuss the ways to reduce this abandonment rate.

Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment rate.

In the first part we saw the top reasons for a visitor to abandon the shopping cart. Let’s revisit them again.

In the first part we saw the top reasons for a visitor to abandon the shopping cart. Let’s revisit them again.

Now since we know the ‘why,’ we can go ahead and answer the next question ‘how’. How do we reduce the shopping cart abandonment rate? Through my experience over the years in this industry, I have found that, there are in fact ways to reduce this abandonment rate.
I will take you through each of the above reason and also tell you ways to eliminate the reason from your visitor’s dictionary.

Reason 1: I was comparison shopping.
The best way to eliminate this reason is to identify the purchase cycle stage of the person who has landed on your page. This is easy to implement if you are using SEM to redirect traffic. All you need to do is identify their search queries. (In Part 1 of this series, I have detailed how to identify visitors through their search queries.) However, I assume you will not be running a campaign every time. Then how do you eliminate this reason.
So here goes. Make the purchase a very simple and fast process. Imagine that you want to buy a brown leather shoe. You are currently doing comparison shopping by visiting various shoe stores. You are still to make that final purchase. A key point to remember here is that even during the comparison shopping stage the visitor is sure that he wants to buy the product. The shift from comparison shopping stage to actual purchase is always swift and direct. Back to our example now. You are visiting various shops and comparing several brown leather shoes on display. You visit shops that display various shoes, with lots of designs. However, some of these stores require you to wait for an attendant to let you know about the size, warranty details, price etc of the shoes. You may also visit a store where the moment you enter, the attendant guides you directly to the brown leather show section. He tells you the warranty terms, brand name and final price of the shoe upfront. He makes shopping a seamless experience. Assuming you buy the brown leather shoe. No prizes for guessing from which store you bought the shoe. Definitely from the one that makes your shopping easy and transparent.
Same goes for your online shopping page. Provide a quick shipping calculator so that consumers can quickly view the full price of their order. Add third party verification seals such as an SSL certificate, a Hacker Safe seal and/or a custom message to the view cart page to help you quickly convert the comparison shopper to a buyer.

Reason 2: The shipping cost was too high
Do people want to pay for shipping? Of course not. According to a Forrester study, 44% of online customers abandon their shopping carts because of high shipping costs. In the same vein, 22% abandon the carts because the seller did not mention shipping costs at all. A similar study from E-tailing Group also revealed that unconditional free shipping is the most important factor that leads customers to complete a purchase. In fact, 73% of respondents listed unconditional free shipping as “critical.” Apart from completing their initial purchase, customers are likely to buy more products because of free shipping. A study conducted by Compete stated that 93% of online buyers are encouraged to buy more products if free shipping is included. Customers who received free shipping also ended up being more satisfied than those who had to pay additional fees.
So, the logic is to provide free or at least fixed shipping cost. However, if you cannot, then make it easier to spot your shipping costs. Quick shipping calculator mentioned above on the view cart page can help consumers view the full price of their order with shopping. Additionally, many merchants insert a message into the view cart page just below the quick shipping calculator that says something along the lines of "Order $50 or more and get free shipping". A promotional message such as this can not only help you capture more sales, it can also help you increase the size of each sale.

Reason 3: I didn't have time to complete transaction at the time
Do your visitors have to fill out many pages of information in order to place an order, this can result in frustration and many abandoned orders. Do you know why Amazon offers one-click purchases? Because everyone hates checking out. The faster you get customers though the checkout, the more money you’re going to make. So make it REALLY easy. If a one-click solution is not possible for your product type then:-

1. Limit the form fields; ask only the details that are absolutely necessary for the purchase. Right now you don’t need to know their wedding anniversary date or their dog’s name.


2. If the customer has shopped with you before, then they should not have to type their billing and shipping information. Your form should auto-load it.


3. Don’t force registration. Have a guest checkout option.


4. Don’t erase form entries – nothing is more annoying than filling out a form, clicking “submit,” and having to type everything again. If your customer forgets to fill a required field, then don’t make them type everything out again.


5. Offer help. Make sure to have a customer service phone number clearly displayed, and even a chat tool if possible.

Reason 4: The product was out of stock
How would you feel if you spent your time comparing, selecting and finalizing on the product to buy and the shop keeper tells you “Sorry Sir, but that product is out of stock. Can we show you something else”? That is exactly how your visitor will feel once he has spent time on your site to purchase a product and was later informed that the product is out of stock. You will not only lose the sale but you will always lose the visitor. He won’t be coming back to you for sure.
Hence, it makes sense to invest in technology to avoid such a scenario. There are lots of competitive solutions out there in the market that automatically hide a product when the stock runs out. To enhance the visitor experience you could also display the current quantity of items in stock on the product page. Thus reducing any surprises for the consumer when they reach the view cart page.

Reason 5: I was uncomfortable with the buying process
Remember that the visitors landing on you shopping cart section have varied degrees of education, internet experience, computer experience, intelligence and e-commerce experience. So keep your buying process as simple as possible. Remember that people have been shopping for ages. Everyone irrespective of his background knows how to buy from a shop.
Try to replicate the same process online. Reduce the number of steps to bare minimum and keep them logical. Let the visitors be aware what he needs to do to complete the purchase even before he has started the purchase process. Use graphic to say that all you need to do to purchase is select the product, fill details, pay. Offer help at every stage.

Reason 6: Shopping cart technical problems
Before you go live with your shopping cart, test it properly for any bugs or issues. Replicate all the possible and rare scenarios that you think may occur by visitor’s’ actions. Study how your shopping cart is reacting. One of the major mistakes I see site owners commit is that they ask the same guys who have coded their shopping cart to check for errors. This will never work.
The coders have been thinking in a straight jacketed way while coding and they won’t be able to think of extreme situations that may make the cart unstable. Also, how honest will the creator be in finding flaws in his own creation? Remember to test your pages for stability on all available browsers. If you do not have experienced coders to code your shopping cart, I would recommend you to try out turn-key packages available in the market that offers you complete tested shopping cart solutions

Reason 7: The price was too high
If you can reduce your price, that’s the first thing you should do. Here, let me assume that reduction in price is not an option. Let us once again look at the scenario of you buying brown leather shoes. The shop owner cannot reduce the price any further.
However, here is what he does. He offers you a cool glass of lemonade, assures you that the goods he is selling are genuine leather, 30 days replacement guarantee and also gives you his contact number to call in case you have any feedback. Make the visitor comfortable, offer him intangible benefits and a place to come back with feedback, he won’t mind paying that extra something.
In case you are priced higher than the industry, there has to be a reason for it like guaranteed product quality, customer service, certifications etc. Highlight them from the customer’s point of view. Today, there are lots of coupon sites that offer benefits of discounts to the customers. They are known as affiliate marketers. Explore the possibility of tying up with them for bulk sales.

Reason 8: Product wasn't what I wanted
At all costs, restrain from mis-selling. This happens more often in financial products. How many times have you seen a financial company selling home loans to senior citizens? Stay away from such practices. Always remember that if you create a positive shopping environment, then the sales go up in the long term due to repeat purchases and referrals.
There is also a possibility of miscommunication. To avoid such scenarios always use extensive product descriptions and images to help better present the product to the consumer. When a visitor sees a different product in the shopping cart than what he imagines, he is obviously disappointed he abandons the shopping cart.

Reason 9: Payment issues or the site did not take my credit card type
This may look trivial but there are many occasions when the customer is at the final stage and your page refuses to accept the bank details/card that he has. Now, that’s a done deal gone bad. To save the visitors time and your bandwidth it’s a good practice to display all the payment instruments you accept upfront. However, in today’s scenario it’s more advisable to accept all major credit cards, online checks and have integrations with secondary payment providers such as Paypal, CyberSource and 2Checkout, etc.

Above all remember: You’re a consumer too. Write down everything you’ve ever loathed about shopping cart and you will have the answers as to what needs to be done to reduce the shopping cart abandonment rates on your site. Share with me what worked with you and what did not.

However, even after you have implemented the above ways there may still be some abandonment rates due to various reasons. What about them? How do you get them to come back and complete that purchase? We will answer all these queries in my third and final series of this post – Ways to bring back the customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart.

Sneak-peak into ‘Ways to bring back the customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart: Part 3’

You have spent your resources to get visitors to your shopping cart and you have spent further resources to keep them from abandoning the shopping cart. However, even after all your attempts, a few visitors are abandoning the cart. How do you get them back to your site and complete that purchase?
You’ll never completely solve the cart abandonment challenge, but there are two great ways to get that customer back, even after they leave your site. Come back for more insights on that.