Well, Halloween has come and gone, and now it’s time for the biggest shopping season of the year. This means e-commerce store owners can get their numbers out of the red and into the black. It also means that it’s time to start thinking about how you can recapture sales that are lost due to abandon carts. Let’s explore why people leave their carts, and what you can do to correct the problem.
Abandon cart reason: Checkout is complicated and time-consuming.
A complicated and time-consuming checkout is going to be a quick way to get someone to leave in the middle of a transaction. Here are a few ways to correct this problem:
#1: Only ask for necessary information. While checkout might seem like the perfect time to get as much information about your customers as possible, it really isn’t. Ask for what you need, not what you don’t.
#2: Have different ways to sign in and checkout. For heaven’s sake – don’t make people register for your website to complete the checkout process. This only creates one more wall they have to break through before the final purchase. Plus, they might only want to shop at your e-commerce store during the holidays. Give them a guest checkout option, and let them sign in through social media accounts, as well as a regular user of the site.
#3: Have plenty of payment methods available. One way to get someone to abandon their cart is not to accept their preferred method of payment. Have all of the payment options easy to click on like credit cards, PayPal, gift cards, etc.
#4: Simplify the design. You don’t need a lot of images or fluff during checkout. Keep everything simple, clean, and easy to understand. And be sure you don’t have any pop-ups that can redirect your customer’s attention during the payment stages.
Abandon cart reason: Consumers don’t feel secure at checkout.
With much emphasis being put on protecting your finances online, people are becoming more aware of security measures when checking out at e-commerce stores. If they don’t feel safe, they’ll bolt. But you can fix this issue.
#1: Have the proper security measures in place. The first step is applying strong security measures to your e-commerce store and making sure they’re in the best interest of protecting your customer.
#2: Let the consumers know your e-commerce store is protected. Even if you’re using state-of-the-art security for your e-commerce store, if you don’t let people know, they won’t feel safe. Consumers should be able to link easily to your security methods when they’re navigating your website. And you should always remind them again during checkout when they’re more likely to lose confidence.
Abandon cart reason: Hidden fees or shipping costs that aren’t in the original total.
Often when people are shopping online, it’s an impulse buy and the smallest change in details can deter the person from finalizing the sale. When you apply a large fee at the end, people will feel sticker shock and second-guess the purchase.
#1: Give all shipping information at the beginning. Let people know the shipping information right away. You don’t need to keep this number a secret until the end because people are going to factor in that number no matter when you add it to the total. By giving them a heads up, you’ll avoid a frustrated customer, and they’ll be more prepared for the reality of the cost as soon as they start checking out.
Abandon cart reason: Customers were in the middle of checking out and had to stop.
Whether people are shopping on their smartphones, tablet, or desktop, they get distracted. This happens all too often, and it results in an abandoned cart.
#1: Send a friendly reminder e-mail. Now don’t fill up someone’s inbox with fifty reminder emails about the potential sale. Only send one reminder email that allows them to link back to the sale. You can also consider adding a free shipping coupon or something similar to help entice them. And don’t forget to add an image of the item they were interested in purchasing.
#2: Give them a way to link back. Always have an option for someone to link back to where they were in the sale. People know when they are shopping online it might not be the most convenient time to make a purchase. Or they might prefer to shop on their mobile phone, but make the actual purchase at home on their desktop. Make it easy for people to link back to their purchase page when they have to abandon their cart, and you’ll recapture those sales that were left behind.
