Imagine it’s a Sunday and you are sitting on a couch, scrolling through Facebook, with a coffee mug in your hand. You’re enjoying liking your friend’s pics on Facebook and suddenly an advert pops up, that says there’s a discount on your favorite iPhone case. You got excited and says “That’s so cool!”
You click on the ad, go to that website and come to the checkout page to purchase the item. Unfortunately, in the middle of the checkout, you receive a phone call from your friend asking for going out. then you take the last sip of coffee. and you’re already out.
What about your favorite iPhone case ??
What is Cart Abandonment & Why it Happens
Cart Abandonment is a process in which shoppers add an item to a website shopping cart, go to the checkout page, but leave it without finishing the transaction.
According to a report, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.89%. This means only 30% of shoppers complete the whole transaction. that’s strange, isn’t it
Okay, before discussing the solutions for this, let’s know first why this happens. let’s take a look at the statistics from Statista:
Now, as you can see there is a variety of reasons why people left the checkout page, such as bad site navigation, expensive shipping rate, no free shipping, long website process, etc.
Now let’s discuss the solutions.
#1. Offer guest checkout options
Some websites force customers to create an account before showing them the final checkout page. This is one of the biggest mistakes which increase a site’s cart abandonment.
Approx. 14% shoppers, abandonment the cart if it forces them to create an account. Customers hate to fill out registration forms. they don’t like providing personal/professional details before buying an item.
By offering a guest checkout option, you are reducing the risk of cart abandonment.
#2. Simplify your website checkout page
Customers often get irritates during the checkout process, if there are lots of steps to follow and make the final transaction. they want a quick and simple checkout page.
Customers want an item quickly. So make sure to simplify the checkout process. Simplify means :
- Customers choose an item
- Add it to the cart
- Go to the checkout page
- Choose shipping type
- Choose payment type
- And make the payment.
That’s it.
Remember, don’t make customers upset during the checkout process.
#3. Add Multiple product images
Visual appearance is very important, especially in an e-commerce website. your site design, product images, infographics, and other website images should look good. as they play an important role.
Your website images, as well as your product images, should be well-represented. al make sure to put multiple images for every single product of your website.
It’s important to show a product from each angle. also showing a product image in the checkout process can also be a good choice.
#4. Make your e-commerce website mobile friendly
Each year more and more people make their purchase on mobile device. According to Statista, this trend will not stop and will be going up in the upcoming years.
It’s estimated that by 2021, over 70% of all online purchases will be done on mobile.
So it means if your website isn’t mobile optimized, then you’re losing sales. Not everyone has time to open their laptop or desktop to make the purchase, they purchase on the go.
It also plays an important role in driving high-quality traffic for your business.
#5. Offer Free Shipping Options
This is the top reason for cart abandonment. Customers don’t want to pay some extra shipping amount for an item they want to purchase.
When they see the price is in their budget, it’s okay, but when they go for it and suddenly see the total cost of a product including shipping is very high, they feel fooled.
This reduces their trust in the company. To prevent this issue, offer a free shipping option for each product. Means you can disclose the total cost of a product at the very beginning.
#6. Show Security Badges in your Website
Today, lots of shoppers are afraid, that what if their card information gets stolen. So that’s why some of the users don’t enter their card details in unrecognized websites.
Including security, a badge is proven to help instill confidence. and it also helps in reducing cart abandonment.
Have a look t the statistics of badges consumers trusted the more :
#7. Use Well-Designed Exit Intent Popups
Imagine, a user comes to your website, browse some of the products, select a favorite product and add it to cart but eventually, decided not to make the purchase and leave the website.
Suddenly, an attractive popup window appears, which informs him that he will get a 20 % discount on the same product. Now you think he will leave the site OR he will make the purchase. Yes, maximum chances are he will buy the product with 20% awesome discount.
That’s the power of exit-intent popups. They will provide some eye-catching discounts to the customers with a strong call to action “Special offer”. which encourage them to complete the transaction.
#8. Optimize Website Page Loading Time
Yes, Slow loading websites do have more cart abandonment as compare to faa st loading website. According to Visual Website Optimizer, E-commerce website sales drop 7% for every one-second delay in page loading time.
On average 65% of a website’s weight is consist of images. So make sure to optimize all your website images. Images are the main reason of slow loading website. Check out this article “Why you should optimize your website images?“.
Besides of images you should also compress/combine your website JS, CSS. If you are using WordPress, then you can also use some powerful caching plugins for your website, like :
- WP Fastest Cache
- W3 Total Cache
- WP Super Cache
Shoppers love a fast loading website and they love to purchase an item from a fast loading website. It also increases their trust in the website.
#9. Offer Multiple Payment Options & Add a Currency Converter
Every online shopper wants multiple choice in terms of shipping options, payment options etc. In 7th point, we will be discussed why you should offer a variety of payment options to a shopper.
Some people prefer PayPal some prefer their Visa, Mastercard to pay. you should provide them a with the payment gateway options if you hate cart abandonment.
So, add as many payment providers to your website and they (online shoppers) will choose their favorite one. it will make them comfortable during the checkout process.
#10. Offer a Live Chat Option
Your shoppers may have some questions and technical issue about your product/service. Hesitation is the mortal enemies of e-commerce store retailers.
If they want to chat with someone about the product quality then what they will do? they will not go to the “Contact” page and call you before buying an item, right. Instead,d they can chat with someone quickly so that you can provide them a Live Chat Option. A live chat option will solve all the issues they are facing before buying a product.
Live chat option service is very much effective in keeping the customer satisfied so that they can complete the transaction.
