By Todd Riddle
You’re running a successful online store and have got everything in place. You’ve figured out everything from optimizing your pages, getting your layout just about right, and fixing payment bugs to getting your logistics right for timely delivery.
But wait a second, here is a mind boggling revelation from Baymard Institute: 68 percent of shopping carts are abandoned online. Boy, that is just about a crushing majority of your target audience leaving you midway.
I am sure you must be feeling devastated. Just think about the countless hours you've put in to get users to log on to your site and help them effortlessly navigate through your product list, select products of their choice, and add products to their carts. All your efforts go down the drain when a user just abandons their cart before making a final purchase. So close, yet so far away.
Have you ever wondered why users simply abandon carts? You likely will be quick to point out that it's probably a last minute change of mind. Well, sadly it's not that simple. While some customers might never have the intention of buying in the first place, a significant percentage of users could be persuaded.
While there is truckload of advice about generating traffic and bringing users to your store, little thought goes behind users who abandon carts midway. So what can e-commerce entrepreneurs do to ensure that customers check out and make the all-important payment? Here are some effective ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment and ultimately improve revenue:
1. Simplify the e-commerce checkout process
Today’s savvy online shoppers like things simple and believe in convenience. Don’t force them to go through the hassles of multipage checkouts, long forms, and annoying questions. Too much hassle is a huge turn off and likely to scare your potential user away before the sale. If the information is not needed, it should not be asked for in the first place.
Allow an express checkout option that spares users from having to create an account to purchase goods. This option allows users to directly go to the checkout screen and enter shipping address and credit card information before submitting an order.
Also, people like to know exactly where they stand in the checkout process; don’t let them wonder. Add a progress bar to show exactly where a shopper is in the checkout process. Also, help users at every possible point in the shopping process by giving some serious thought to how you arrange your fields and providing auto-fill options when you can. Never force users to update the same information twice.
2. Stay transparent—avoid surprises
Customers hate surprises during the billing process. Therefore, it is important not to bombard users with hidden costs during checkout. In order to avoid any surprise elements, consider adding a calculator or estimator that allows users to gauge additional and variable costs early in the process. Higher than normally acceptable shipping costs and long lead times also will add to a shopper's frustration.
3. Address shopping anxiety
Understand your users and try to address concerns that might prevent them from making a purchase. Customers might have several concerns about your return policy, privacy policy, as well as your pricing policy. For instance, you can provide a best price guarantee to stop them from finding alternate solutions elsewhere and comparing prices.
If your ultimate goal is to win trust, don’t shy away from flaunting trust badges such as Norton, McAfee, TRUSTe, and BBB. Remember, users are very cautious about sharing personal and confidential information due to credit card fraud, spamming, and identity theft.
4. Send reminders to customers
An abandoned cart does not necessarily mean that the transaction is over. A customer might have left the checkout process because the website crashed or the site timed out. In such transactions, it is important to send email campaigns to remind customers of their abandoned carts. Subsequently, customers can either make a final payment, save for later, or clear their carts.
In order to send recovery emails, though, you need to capture email addresses in the first step of the process. And be sure to craft your emails with compelling copy that convinces users to buy the product and provide them a relatively easy way to return their carts, or at least see their abandoned items.
Before Checking Out ...
Remember, it's important to treat an abandoned cart as an opportunity to start a relationship with a new customer. After all, a user has already spent time trying to place an order. While it may not be possible to convince each and every cart abandoner to go complete the checkout process, you can certainly try to resolve issues with best practices or recovery emails.
