Cart Abandonment is the scourge of eCommerce merchants the world over. It’s a lot like an invasive species, slowly ruining the environment around it. Unlike an invasive species, it is a naturally occurring byproduct of eCommerce. However, that does not mean that eCommerce retailers must simply stand by and accept cart abandonment as a part of their business model. Absolutely not, in fact there are a number of simple steps eCommerce merchants can take – right now – to reduce cart abandonment.
Some of you reading this might be thinking “slow down buddy, what exactly is cart abandonment?”
That is an excellent question – so let’s answer it before we go any further.
What is Cart Abandonment?
Cart Abandonment is what happens when a shopper adds an item to their cart and does not go to checkout on a website. It is a problem for eCommerce retailers because the end result is lost revenue.
But that’s not all. It is an especially big problem for eCommerce retailers that have no way of knowing just who is abandoning, what they abandoned, and how to reach out to them. Datacrushers can take care of every single one of those issues. Just hit the banner below to learn more about how Datacrushers can help you reduce cart abandonment and recover a tremendous amount of revenue.
So, what are the 7 major reasons for cart abandonment, and what can be done about it – starting right now?
1)Product Research:
Guess what, 17% of cart-abandonment is simply caused by shoppers conducting product research. Usually, this means they are trying to learn more about the specification of a product to see if it meets their needs.
This often happens when retailers neglect to mention a specific aspect of a product. In that case, shoppers will start trying to learn everything they can before making a purchase. The less information a site has about a specific product, the less likely shoppers are to proceed to checkout with that item.
So, to reduce cart abandonment, start by ensuring product pages provide shoppers with ALL the relevant item information. Even all of the little details many people are inclined to view as being of no significance are going to be important to some shoppers.
2) Forced Account Creation:
These days, shoppers have too many accounts and passwords to keep track of. Between social media, email, finance, and work-related accounts, it’s a lot to maintain. When shoppers walk into a physical retail location, they can complete a purchase without having to sign up for a retailers newsletter, credit-card, etc. – This is the quintessential form of guest checkout.
When we consider the fact that 37% of cart abandonment is caused by sites that require the creation of a dedicated account to complete a purchase, it explains a huge part of the issue.
Forced Account Creation Results In Increased art Abandonment
It’s incumbent on eCommerce retailers to offer guest checkout in order to reduce instances of cart abandonment. It is that simple.
Guest Checkout Reduces Cart Abandonment
3) No Online Coupons/Discount Codes:
This reason isn’t so obvious from the get-go. Value-conscience shoppers (also known as “coupon-cutters”) will refrain from making a purchase unless they can save a little money in the process. For shoppers on a budget, there is nothing wrong with this approach – as the old saying goes “a penny saved is a penny earned.”
That being said, 8% of abandonments are caused by shoppers being unable to find a coupon for a website they are intent on making a purchase from.
To reduce cart abandonment, try to provide shoppers coupons through sites such as Groupon.com or Coupon.com.
Online Coupons and Discounts Help Reduce Cart Abandonment
4) High Shipping Cost:
Along with being value-conscience, many shoppers are hesitant to spend more than they absolutely must when it comes to shipping. A family on a small budget doesn’t mind waiting a few weeks for non-essential (as of that moment) items if it means they don’t have to pay more than a few dollars for delivery.
When you think about this fact, it actually makes sense that 60% of abandonments are caused by unexpectedly high shipping costs. This is where offering simple, free shipping – especially on non-perishable goods – is important. Furthermore, the offer of free shipping will reduce the chances of shopper complaints. Most people won’t knock something that’s free because it’s a nice touch.
5) No Express Shipping:
On the other end of the spectrum, we have shoppers who really do not care about shipping costs when they want an item. It turns out that a lack of premium shipping options also causes retailers to lose sales.
With 18% of cart abandonment are caused by a lack of premium shipping. Offering express shipping should really be a no-brainer to anyone who is serious about making sales.
6) Complex Checkout Process:
This issue effects sites that offer both guests and registered user checkout options. If the process needs users to fill out dozens of fields, repeat the same information and tries to push items – especially unrelated items – onto shoppers during the checkout process – that frustration will end the process prematurely.
It’s not a simple issue either, with 28% of cart abandonment being traced back to an overly complex checkout process.
To reduce cart abandonment, cut your required fields down to the minimum. So the name, address, email, phone number, credit-card details, and billing address should be the minimal requirement.
7) Lack Of Trust In Site Security:
All other issues aside, the one thing that makes all the difference is payment security. As in, what kind of site-security is used, is it noticeable, and are the payment methods recognized and trusted?
It’s not just about saying “we accept Visa /Amex / Discover / Master.” Those offerings are nice, but without things like updated SSL certificates, and other common site-security badges, shoppers are likely to abandon out of fear they might be scammed.
Site Security Badges Help Reduce Cart Abandonment
In fact, 19% of cart abandonment instances are caused by shoppers simply not trusting a website.
But, you can reduce cart abandonment by making sure your sites security certificates are up to date. Moreover, you can cut it down by offering consumer loan financing from firms such as Affirm, bread, CharegAfter, and SplitIt.
In Summary:
Cart Abandonment, as annoying of an issue as it may be, does not have to occupy the realm of “terminal pest” that cannot be mitigated. Furthermore, all of the recommendations involved in the reduction of cart abandonment can in most cases be implemented today. However, a perfectly designed site does not mean there won’t be any cart abandonment at all. Rather, once the main reasons have been taken care of, the only issue left is that of connecting with your shoppers. This is where Datacrushers comes in. Our powerful revenue discovery platform will help you connect with guest shoppers and abandoners alike, enabling you to retarget them to close more sales. Seriously – check it out below.
Datacrushers
Founded in 2015, Datacrushers uses Machine Learning and A.I. along with NLP to identify and recover revenue loss, cart abandonment and discover new revenue sources across any site. The revenue discovery platform completes the deep ongoing analysis of eCommerce websites by monitoring the three main focal points of any site: The User, Site, and Product.
Unlike traditional “cart abandonment platforms,” Datacrushers does not require shoppers and customers to be logged-in to conduct both on and offsite campaigns. We use a wide range of data-driven and analytics based conversion tools to target the shopper at the right time with the most accurate and effective campaign to drive the sale.
Datacrushers is platform, language, and currency agnostic and requires only a few lines of code to get started therefore delivering an ultra-fast go-to-market with minimal set-up time and tech intervention.
Based out of Jerusalem, Israel, Datacrushers has clients worldwide including, The US, China, Russia, UK, Germany, and more.
