What Are Some Effective Strategies For Reducing Cart Abandonment In E-commerce?
Shopping cart abandonment has been a vexing issue for online retailers since the inception of e-commerce. During 2018, the global average rate of cart abandonment was 75.5%, meaning more than three quarters of potential orders are never completed. 1
The impacts of cart abandonment are severe. Industry standards dictate that retailers must invest double the efforts to acquire a new customer yet they are losing the same amount of money to abandoning customers.
Despite the seriousness of the cart abandonment issue, there are steps online retailers can take to reduce the rate at which their customers are leaving unpaid orders. While there is no single answer, all efforts to reduce abandoned carts will take time and effort, as well as the implementation of proven tactics. Here are six such effective strategies for reducing cart abandonment in e-commerce:
1. Offer Free Shipping
Consumers hold free shipping in high regard, typically ranking it at the top of their list of priorities when shopping online. 2 According to a study by Statista.com, one in four respondents listed high delivery costs as the primary reason for cart abandonment.
Therefore, offering free (or discounted) shipping is a great way to reduce abandonment rate. To ensure profitability, the offer must be profitable to cover all shipping costs when applicable.
2. Several Payment Options
Providing several payment options will make it easier for customers to complete the checkout process. As customers increasingly prefer to purchase digitally, offering digital payment solutions like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay should increase the customer’s satisfaction with the checkout process.
These payment services reduce the checkout steps into a single click, making it easier for customers to make the purchase. This should help ease checkout anxiety and reduce the rate of cart abandonment.
3. Clear Return Policy
The cart abandonment rate increases significantly for shoppers who have difficulty with understanding what a store’s return policy includes. Providing a clear and visible return policy erases customers’ doubts and fears that their money will be wasted.
Create an easy to find and navigate return policy page, and allow customers to easily initiate returns if there are any issues.
4. Remove All Distractions
It’s a well-known fact that distractions lead to customers abandoning the checkout process. Remove all navigational elements from your checkout pages to prevent customers from being sidetracked and abandon the order.
Additionally, consider using a single-column design for checkout pages so readers don’t have to jump to and from multiple columns. You should also avoid displaying massive amounts of text on your checkout pages. Keep it focused on the information that is essential to complete the checkout.
5. Progress Bar
The checkout process can seem daunting and customers can easily become overwhelmed if they have to fill out multiple pages of forms. To keep customers engaged, implement a progress bar on your checkout page to show the customer the number of steps involved and how many they have already completed.
The progress bar will ease anxiety and improve the customer’s confidence in the checkout process.
6. Abandonment Email Campaigns
When the customer abandons the shopping cart, you should also have an automated campaign that reminds them of their items which have been left in their cart. Such abandonment emails are a great way to recover lost sales.
Include images of the products left in the cart, providing customers with a clear idea of what products they were interested in. You could also include promotional codes to incentivize customers to finish their purchase.
Conclusion
Cart abandonment has become a significant issue for many businesses. Thankfully, there are strategies and tactics that businesses can implement to reduce their abandonment rate and increase their conversions.
Using a combination of free shipping, multiple payment options, a clear return policy, distraction-free pages, a progress bar, and abandonment email campaigns can go a long way towards reducing abandoned cart rates and improving business profitability.
Ultimately, the success of any strategy to reduce abandonment rates will depend on how it is implemented.
1 https://baymard.com/labs/cart-abandonment-rate
2 https://www.statista.com/statistics/426645/shopping-cart-abandonment-most-important-reason-us/
