The most exciting part about having a website is the opportunity to reach a wider audience but businesses must be aware of cart abandonment and related issues when operating online. The eCommerce world is a trillion-dollar industry, growing at double digits every year. A report presented by Baymard based on 50 websites spread over 18 themes shows that the majority of sites are not optimized to combat cart abandonment and maximize their potential. These eight areas raise key issues for eCommerce today and offer great solutions. Crank your site to the max and so it can perform at the highest level.
Simplify the Check-Out Process
Your products are awesome. Your customers come to your store to look around and find something to buy. They find what they’re looking for and are excited for or with their new purchase, they head to checkout but they see the lengthy, complicated checkout process with 8 stages. Then they abandon the cart as the process seems too long and complicated. They aren’t alone, they’re joined by 27% of your visitors who leave without starting the checkout. A report, tracking consumer behavior along the numerous steps that can make up the checkout process found that of those people that complete the first page 96% will leave their products at checkout once they realize they have to fill out other pages to check out. It’s a serious problem, you have done so well to get them to this point only to see them leave.
Creating a one-page checkout process is all you need to do to. Simplifying the process will eliminate any confusion at checkout and lower cart abandonment rates. Providing a simple section to fill out their name, address or alternative shipping address is adequate. You can then have a section for payment type and payment details. Designing one page with everything in front of the customer will let them feel that it’s not a hassle but a quick process to finish the purchase. Some number the stages one under the other moving them along to the last stage the checkout button. They see a simple experience instead of a process that seems like it’s a hassle.
Make It Easy for Them to Trust You
For many people, buying online is still about trust. Cart abandonment rates are highest when visitors dont feel like thry can trust your website. 17% of shoppers don’t purchase because they’re concerned about security. They’re sending their personal and banking details to a company they don’t know and that can be an issue. The internet is much safer than in the early days but shoppers still want verification that the website they’re shopping with is safe and protected. Use strong SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] authentication together with solutions from companies like Verisign is an important step that will instill trust in shoppers. Placing the logos on all the pages of your site will let your customers know they are safe.
Which payment options can they use?
Does your store accommodate all the payment options? Make sure it clear on your website. Cart abandonments occurred amongst approximately 50% of visitors if a range of payment options are not available. Post the logos and include processing information if it differs between bank cards. It means that customers can trust that they can use their card and remove any doubt there will be an issue with their payment. PayPal provides an easy way to complete the purchase. With many similar options available you should include a wider selection of ways your customers can complete checking out.
A Fresh Look at Free Shipping
There are expenses associated with selling online and shipping your products is one them. Shipping can be a big expense, if you feel that this should be passed onto your customers you would be justified in thinking that. When it comes to shipping, customers’ expectations have changed from accepting the need to pay the shipping cost to expect shipping to be free. A report by Deloitte found that 72% of users consider free shipping to be important. Leading merchants like Amazon along with many of your competitors have free shipping and you can see free shipping to increase conversion rates and engage with your customers. If you have specific shipping rates on selected products, you can mention the shipping rates with the product details on the product page.
Guest check out vs. logged in
Other than the checkout process, a big problem that causes people to abandon their carts is compulsory sign ins. It’s understandable that you want to have everyone to sign in. From your point of view, it’s an ideal time to collect their details when they are engaged. You can then identify the user so they can be retargeted if anything goes wrong. You can propose benefits to the user for signing up but for the most part, they won’t buy it.You can give them an option to sign in or check out as a guest. To force them to sign in to check out is an impediment. It’s a pain and 14% will bounce because of it. So, the good news! We have a solution! Use the checkout process to grab all that juicy data you want. You’ll have other opportunities to get their email address if they don’t check out. Remember if they are heading to checkout keep it simple and give them a K.I.S.S.
Technical Issues Are Terrible for Everyone
You would think that web technology is already 100% reliable. Well, we wish it was but, based on a study focusing on cart abandonment, websites can have issues that make customers bounce. Occasions where the credit card process gets stuck and the graphic goes around and around for a few seconds too long. It causes people to be concerned and they leave. Many of those problems can be out of the control of business owners. Servers go down, bug finds its way into plugins. These problems cause the site to freeze, temporarily slow down or fail to load. People like to shop online because accessible but if it is too hard, not efficient or seems like something is broken, customers are not going to stay. Pressing the checkout button on the product page and finding that it’s not loading doesn’t instill the confidence you want to give when people come to your store. Consider using services that will monitor and help you protect your site from technical issues and make sure any issues are fixed.
Let Them Shop
People are at the checkout to finish their purchase. Well, not always. Many times, they’re at the checkout just to check what the total price will be with shipping and handling. They really want to carry on shopping. They are at the check out with no intention to finish and want to return to the section they were just on. There is no back button and in front of them is the checkout details. They’re thinking my stuff might remain in the cart, I’ll come back and try again, no big deal. You lost them because you didn’t give them an option. Give them the option to carry on shopping. Take them to a place they can continue their journey and get back to the cart when they’re ready. Check out should be incorporated into the website just like any of the websites with the shopping categories and support so visitors can see they can continue shopping. In this case, confusion caused them to abandon not because they lost interest, they just didn’t know where to go, so they left
Do They Know You Care?
If someone walks into a store and has a problem they can walk up to a sales rep and ask a question. They receive a satisfactory answer and go and pay. Now online, people need the same assistance. Support can come in different forms. Apart from a comprehensive support guide on your site, provide different ways they can be in touch. Let them call you or create a live chat tool to answer any queries quickly. Social media has become part of many people’s daily life. Facebook and Twitter have become great places to engage and answer any questions. If you can deal with them easily, without any stress, you can really develop the relationship between yourself and customer. They see you care. Great customer care can do wonders, potentially converting visitors’ loyalty.
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