“How to reduce shopping cart abandonment”, is another common question we are asked by Browntape users. Shopping cart abandonment is a common issue faced by all eCommerce websites. It involves online shoppers adding items to a website’s shopping cart, but leaving before completing the transaction. It is the real-world equivalent of walking into the supermarket, filling your cart with items but not purchasing them. This is a huge problem for online stores which are dependent on cart conversions.
The cart abandonment rate in India is between 60-70%
ECONOMIC TIMES
What Causes Shopping Cart Abandonment?
Before we attempt to reduce shopping cart abandonment, let us look at the key causes of the problem. As eCommerce evolves day by day, in a dynamic manner; consumer behaviour online presents itself in a non-linear manner. Their user journey does not follow a single flow; rather it involves searches, comparisons, visits and revisits to your site, careful consideration and final purchase. It is difficult to pinpoint a single moment when the consumer decides to purchase; however, AI-driven web store platforms are bringing a change to it; albeit gradually.
User Experience of Your Site
Shoppers like a hassle-free shopping experience. However, sometimes, sellers tend to overcomplicate their websites. A smooth checkout process post cart loading helps reduce shopping cart abandonment. But if you add pages in-between these two processes such as coupons, compulsory signing up, etc.; it irritates the shopper. It’s like waiting in a long line at a supermarket, to get to the cash counter. A confusing process while checking out irks any shopper, increasing the probability of cart abandonment.
Sign-Up Prompt During Check-Out
It is great to have a robust customer database and having a customer register helps your future marketing efforts. However, if a customer is prompted when checking out, to sign up on the website, you will be unable to reduce shopping cart abandonment. Including a brief form right on the cart page helps.
Comparison Until Final Purchase
Most online shoppers in India are deal seekers; probably like the rest of the world. Your store might be one of the initial ones they have visited. In the absence of a “wishlist” or “bookmark” button; shoppers may tend to park their selections in the cart. In case they end up finding a better deal elsewhere, they will abandon this cart.
Lack of or Low Purchase Intent
Window shoppers thrive on window shopping. As sellers, you can categorise them as customers with low purchase intent. They visit sites, may add products to their card, and then abandon them. Psychologically, such online shoppers experience the same rush of actual purchase, without buying the product. It’s similar to the immediate gratification that shoppers feel when they physically window shop. Unfortunately, you cannot do much here to reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Revealing Timelines During Check-Out
Some web-stores reveal their delivery timelines, once the customer enters his or her address with pin code. In case the customer finds the timeline too lengthy, there are chances that he may abandon the cart.
Hidden Taxes & Charges
It is always great to put out the final charges upfront. Many sites keep variable shipping charges as per the weight of the product. Thus a customer is informed about the shipping charges only during check-out. Similarly, there are taxes or ‘convenience charges’ that reflect during check out. In case a customer finds the final costs unacceptable, then they may abandon the cart.
Unsecure Payment Gateway
It is important to assure the customer that your site is safe for them to use cards, UPI, wallets and internet banking. Thus SSL certificates, trust badges and similar signs of authenticity help build trust. An absence of these may create doubt in the minds of the customers leading to abandonment.
Dysfunctional Coupon Codes
Coupons are a big draw for customers to make a purchase. However, when a customer enters a coupon, there might be cases where the coupon is not valid anymore or does not apply on the chosen products. This causes dissatisfaction, leading to cart abandonment.
Maximum or Minimum Limits
This has become a common cause during the pandemic with a fractured delivery system. But this issue has existed before the pandemic too. Many sellers come up with a minimum purchase quantity on small products or products with lesser margins. Similarly, some sellers have a maximum purchase limit on discounted products. This is to prevent other sellers from purchasing products at a less price and reselling these at a higher price. Whatever be the case, ensure you mention these limits upfront and not during the checkout process.
How Do We Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonments?
Evaluate User Behaviour to Improve User Experience
Certain webstore platforms or carts help online sellers with insights, which shows them where in the purchase journey the buyers drop off. Some advanced sites offer technological support such as heat maps, study of scroll behaviour and other bottlenecks. These can be used to improve your user experience.
Include Security Badges or Trust Symbols
Research shows that online shoppers are reluctant to provide their contact details. Asking customers to fill out a transaction form also involves asking for their credit card details.
One of the many ways to build trust and credibility during checkout is to display security logos.
This will reassure the customer that his data is in safe hands. Research by Shopify shows that around 61% of consumers did not complete the transaction because the trust logos were missing. SSL certificate is essential.
Reinforce Benefits throughout Checkout
Mentioning “free shipping” or “delivery within 2-3 days” on the checkout page will reduce the chances of customers abandoning the shopping cart and completing the purchase. Websites need to clearly specify what the shopper is paying for and sticking to the delivery time promise. The customer has to be convinced that the product is worth buying. Online shoppers in India tend to prefer COD more, so that can be made a top priority over other payment options before checkout.
Offer Guest Checkout Options
It is true that the checkout process gathers valuable data about the consumers. However, forcing the customer to create an account with your online store is a major cause of cart abandonment. A customer who intends to quickly complete the purchase will no way be interested in providing details to create an account. The best option here is to allow the customer to simply fill his phone number and email and continue with checkout.
Coupons
Sellers need to ensure that rules for using coupons are clearly stated upfront on the product page or provide a drop-down of eligible coupons. This helps to reduce shopping cart abandonment.
Optimise Page Load Speed
A major reason behind cart abandonments is poor page load speeds. A slow website can make all your efforts futile. Make sure your e-commerce site has optimised pages that load faster.
Use Re-marketing to Target Cart Abandoners
This is nothing but reminding the customer to purchase the items they abandoned. Showing re-marketing ads for the desired product is a good way to bring shoppers back to your website and close the deal. Re-marketing helps you combat shopping cart abandonment by getting back customers that you might lose along the way.
