Abandoned shopping carts are a lost opportunity for a retailer to make money. However, this doesn't mean that nothing can be done about it, and in this post you'll learn why users don't finalize their purchase and how you can change this.
From this post you will learn that:
- An abandoned basket is another way of saying non-finalized purchase
- Many stores are struggling with the problem of abandoned baskets
- There are many reasons why customers abandon their shopping carts, including:
- Need to register on the website
- The long path to purchase
- Additional costs
- Small selection of delivery and payment options
- Lack of security assurance on the site
4. You can take many steps to regain abandoned shopping carts
What is an abandoned shopping cart?
Abandoned shopping cart is the word used to describe the phenomenon in which a potential customer adds a product or products to the shopping cart, but does not finalize the purchase and leaves the website.
Shopping cart abandonment is a very common phenomenon and causes frustration for many retailers. On average, only one in three online shopping carts is finalized right away. Some people have no intention of buying any product at all, but simply browse for promotions, novelties or price comparisons
It's incredibly frustrating to think that that customer who abandoned the shopping cart may have decided to buy from a competitor, right?
Therefore, it is necessary to check the possible reasons why this is happening and to counteract this phenomenon.
Causes of basket abandonment
There can be many causes of shopping cart abandonment, and they can be both those that are within our control and we can counteract, as well as those that are independent of our actions, such as checking for news or searching for promotions. However, surely there is nothing we can do about it?
Remarketing, that is, reminding customers - through ads - of products they were interested in, can work perfectly in both cases.
We will now introduce you to the most common causes of shopping cart abandonment by customers.
Purchases possible only for registered users
The ability to place a quick order, without having to create an account, is a definite draw for many users these days.
You may think - then I won't keep the customer with me. It's true, there is no assurance that the customer will ever come back to us, BUT Even if he had taken those 3 minutes to register - we still have no assurance that he would ever return.
By depriving our customers of the opportunity to make purchases without registration, we are depriving ourselves of the opportunity to make money.
Purchase path too long
No one wants to fill in dozens of fields of information about themselves. The buying process is supposed to be short and pleasant so that the customer can get on with other things as quickly as possible.
Collect only the most necessary information such as:
- shipping details
- delivery method,
- method of payment
Also avoid a complicated and incomprehensible purchase form. Does it make sense to collect a lot of data if the customer does not finalize the purchase?
Too much extra cost
This is one of the very common reasons for shopping cart abandonment. We know of cases where the amount you had to pay for delivery exceeded the amount of the product you wanted to order. Not a nice situation, right?
It's not worth hiding delivery prices or even other additional costs that may discourage you from completing your purchase.
Little choice of options
Most people who shop online have a preferred method of payment or delivery. They get discouraged and very often look among competitors for a store that matches their preferences.
Therefore, it is worth giving more options for delivery and payment - this way you can also increase trust in the store.
Security of the site and forms of payment
Trust issues are incredibly important these days and can determine the finalization of a purchase.
SSL security certificate and payment methods that are widely known (transfer24, bluemedia, paypal, payment on delivery) will make it possible for customers to purchase from the store without much worry.
How to avoid customer cart abandonment?
- Offer multiple forms of payment and delivery.
- Shorten the buying process and make it intuitive
- Allow purchases without registration
- Offer discounts, free (or inexpensive) delivery
- Don't hide the extra costs
- Make sure you have the right certifications on your site
- Show alternatives to the customer - the possibility of making a return
- Use remarketing
How to regain a client who abandoned his shopping cart?
1. one of the most popular methods to convince customers to complete their purchase, is to reminder sent by email.
There are many tools that can help with this. One of them is MailChimp, which has many more features than just basket retrieval.
This method involves sending a message to the customer with a redirect to his abandoned shopping cart - with the same content that interested him on his previous visit to the e-store.
In addition, we can encourage the recipient to complete the purchase by giving them a one-time discount or offering free delivery.
2. another way is SMS reminder.
This option is based on a similar action to email reminders, but may even be more effective in some cases, as emails are much more likely to be overlooked.
A tool that can help with SMS reminders for abandoned shopping carts is Freshmail.
3. Remarketing ads may be a perfect way to regain a client who previously abandoned his shopping cart. These ads will be displayed in various places, reminding the user of the products that have been viewed by a given user.
When using remarketing ads, it's a good idea to make sure you have the right plug-in on your site to retain a particular person's shopping cart.
As a result, when returning to our store, there will be products waiting in the user's shopping cart that they were previously interested in.
It's time to start countering
You already know what is an abandoned shopping cart and that many online stores are struggling with this phenomenon.
Know the possible causes shopping cart abandonment by potential store customers.
You know how you can counteract this phenomenon by implementing specific actions and changes in your online store.
You are aware that it is possible to recover already abandoned shopping carts through advertising activities - remarketing, as well as through various tools.