Reducing Cart Abandonment

I recently began a project with one of my clients to review the cart performance of their site which we build close to 2 years ago. One of the key focus points of this project was around reducing cart abandonment rates so I did a little bit of research to understand the best way to approach this from the first step. /p>

A recent article I read said that an average of 67.75% of all online shopping carts are abandoned. That’s not an insignificant number by any standard. If you think about that for a second, for all of the work you put into optimizing your landing pages, various strategies around pricing, and perfecting your information architecture, 7 out of every 10 people are bailing before the finish line.

Here are a few suggestions for preventing and reducing cart abandonment:

Retarget shoppers using reminder emails

You might be surprised to know that a large number of customers who have abandoned their cart will return to complete the transaction within 12 to 24 hours, so the first 12 hours can be critical. I’ve seen some success in the past where online stores can successfully get abandoners to return to the product they were considering using reminder emails.

Always remain clear about shipping costs and delivery times

Unreasonable or unexpected costs really hurts your conversion. If someone makes the effort to go through the cart process, the last thing you want is for them to be put off by hefty additional fees or long wait times. You can reduce the number of abandoned carts by remaining transparent about shipping times and additional costs.

Existing customers are incredibly valuable

Consider your existing customers as they are up to 14 times more likely to make a purchase. And generally, their purchases can be significantly more compared with first time buyers as you have now established a level of trust. So it’s important to value them and make them one of your key marketing targets to avoid cart abandonment.

Ensure that your site is optimized for mobile

In 2013 alone, Mobile sales have increased at an incredible rate and don’t look to be letting up. Keeping your mobile site optimised and moving toward a responsive design all provide a greater user experience. It’s imperative that designers take the mobile customer into consideration because shoppers have high expectations for the mobile shopping experience.

Keep your checkout process simple

The last thing that you want shoppers to experience is a lengthy checkout process. Long over engineered forms are the enemy here. No shopper wants to have to go through eight different steps to make a purchase. They want it to be easy and quick.

If there’s anything you should take away from these few points, it’s that abandoned carts are a huge opportunity to re-engage with your customers.