6 Tips on How to Combat Shopping Cart Abandonment

What is Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Shopping cart abandonment is the painful result of customers deciding not to go through with their purchase, after adding their selected items to their cart. Sometimes, they do come back to check out, but most times, the items are left in their cart for weeks or months, and in extreme cases, years. It’s a very real problem for sellers and needs to be addressed.

In March of 2020, Statista reported that a whopping 88% of online shopping carts were abandoned due to multiple reasons across an array of industries. So, how do you combat this daunting problem? Here are some tips:

1. Break Down the Shipping Cost

Be as transparent as possible with the costing of your products, and always break down the shipping cost. Show details like shipping fee and taxes if the platform allows it. This will give customers a better understanding of what they are paying for, and not feel like they are being overcharged. However, it is good to note that if shipping costs are high, the breakdown may not necessarily work in your favor.

2. Send an ‘Abandoned Cart’ Notification

Consider sending an ‘abandoned cart’ notification through email or chat, about three hours after the abandonment. This has proven to recover around 5-10 percent of sales. Sometimes, customers just need a little more convincing, so this reminder can serve as a subtle motivation for them to proceed with the purchase. You may also try to create a sense of urgency by telling them that the item has limited stock.

3. Simplify the Checkout Process

If you have control over the platform, try to minimize the number of screens from the initial ‘product selection’ screen, to the ‘checkout’ screen. With every new page opened, a customer can either become more excited about the purchase, or wonder if they really need to make the purchase. Buyer psychology is a tricky ordeal.

Another interesting alternative is to display a progress bar to help them see how close they are to completing the payment. It’s cool as much as it serves an effective purpose. You can even go the extra mile and add animation to it if the platform has the extensions for that.

4. Manage Your Pop-ups Strategically

We can all agree that pop-ups mid purchase; whether to sign up for a newsletter, to view a discounted product, or for anything else, can be annoying and to some extent, a turn-off. Although they may be relevant to your marketing, they may come off as a nuisance to some customers. So strategize carefully and if you do it right, you might have customers who make the purchase and sign up for your newsletters. Need tips for email marketing? Check this out.

5. Offer Free Shipping and Other Incentives

Free shipping is one of the most effective ways to ensure that customers complete their checkout, and to put you ahead of the competition. As buyers ourselves, we have experienced the pain of having to abandon our shopping cart because of high shipping fees and taxes, especially when purchasing a product that costs only 3-4 times of the shipping fee. Free shipping serves both as a weapon to combat shopping cart abandonment, and a catalyst to motivate customers to add more products to their cart. Create a minimum order amount for free shipping, and you will be surprised at how many customers actually end up buying multiple items just for the free shipping.

In the same way, you can offer incentives or discounts to customers who purchase multiple items in a single checkout.

6. Offer Secure Payment Options

Customers want security. They need to know that when they make a purchase from your brand, their transaction is secure. So, employ secure payment options at the checkout. Use payment gateways that are well-renowned in the regions of your target audience, or that have a trust badge. Multiple payment options come with multiple fees, so remember to include that in your costing structure. Learn more about the benefits of having multiple payment gateways.