How to Reduce Cart Abandonment & Optimize Checkout Process for Ecommerce Store

In the eCommerce site, the check-out process is an extremely crucial factor when it comes to getting more and more sales. If your eCommerce store doesn’t have an easy and fluent checkout process then you will lose a huge number of sales and revenue. let’s discuss how to reduce cart abandonment rate by fixing or optimizing the checkout process in your eCommerce store. On many occasions, it happens when a customer didn’t like the checkout process, non-relevant payment method, lacks proper information in the cart, or initiates the checkout page or other issues, and left the eCommerce store without purchasing the item.

What is Shopping Cart Abandonment?

In E-commerce, abandonment means if any visitor on a website leaves a specific webpage before completing the desired actions. There are different types of abandonment like booking abandonment, form abandonment, browse abandonment, shopping cart abandonment, etc. Shopping cart abandonment directly affects the sales and revenue of an online business and that is why it becomes very important to understand it. Now, the question is What is shopping cart abandonment? So, in basic terms, when a customer starts the check-out process for an order but if by any means they do not complete the purchase then it is known as shopping cart abandonment. Shopping cart abandonment is a very important concept for online businesses as it helps them to know about the user experience. If the shopping cart abandonment rate is high, then this could mean a poor user experience. According to Business Insider, it is believed that retailers have lost around $4.6 trillion to shopping cart abandonment. There are numerous reasons that can lead to shopping cart abandonment like complicated check-out process, complicated interface, multiple pop-up windows, the high loading time of the website, etc.

How to Calculate the Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate?

The cart abandonment rate is simply the percentage of shopping carts that did not convert. The simplest way to compute your cart abandonment rate is to first calculate your cart conversion rate, which is just the number of completed purchases divided by the number of shopping carts opened. The Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate assists online companies in understanding the shopping habits of their website users and consumers. Cart conversion Rate = Total number of purchases completed    x 100                                   Total number of shopping cart created For example, if you have 50 completed purchases and 200 shopping carts created, the shopping cart abandonment rate would be 75 %. 1 – (50 / 200) x 100 = 75 %

Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics:

There are numerous factors that can lead to cart abandonment and e-commerce stores loses a lot of sales because of it. The average cart abandonment rate in the year 2020 was around 69.8 % whereas, in the year 2021 it went up to 80 %. According to Statista, in March 2021 approximately 80 % of shopping orders were abandoned. The automotive industry had a 89.11 % of cart abandonment rate in March 2021. The cart abandonment rate of various industries in March 2021 is mentioned below,

• Automotive – 89.11%
• Luxury – 87.79%
• Airlines – 88.87%
• Hotel – 82.71%
• Consumer electronics – 70.65%
• Retail – 76.34%
• Sports & Outdoor – 75.67%
• Groceries – 61.13%
• Travel – 85.22%
• Fashion – 88.57%
• Car rental – 80.83%
• Cosmetics – 75.35%
• Pharmaceutical – 71.51%

These are cart abandonment rates of some major industries in March 2021. (Statista) According to SaleCycle, the average abandonment rate in the year 2020 was 84.27% and in 2021 its around 81.08%. The rate of shopping cart abandonment also depends majorly on devices because if we check the shopping cart abandonment rate of mobiles, desktops, and tablets then we can see that the rate is comparatively higher in mobiles. Below is the average shopping cart abandonment rate in different devices like mobile, tablets, and computers.

• Mobile phones – 80.79 %
• Tablets – 77.3 %
• Computers – 73.93 %

Data Source https://www.barilliance.com/cart-abandonment-rate-statistics/

Top 9 Reasons for High Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate

Some of the major factors that cause high shopping cart abandonment rate in mobile phones are,

1) Poor Design

The shopping experience on desktop and mobile phones can be very different. A lot of websites mainly design websites keeping in mind the desktop version and they do not optimize the mobile version. This is one of the major reasons behind the shopping cart abandonment rate.

2) Slow Loading Speed

Users can access shopping websites from anywhere through mobile. Hence, it is not possible that they will get good internet speed everywhere. Therefore, low internet speed can lead to shopping cart abandonment.

3) Less Payment Options

This is an issue for both mobiles and desktops. If any shopping website does not provide a lot of payment options, then it can lose a lot of customers. Apart from this, there are numerous other factors that contribute to the high shopping cart abandonment rate in mobile phones. As per data by Statista, most e-commerce sites have a heavy cart abandonment ratio because of:-

Reasons can be many but being an e-commerce marketer, you need to track the shopping cart abandonment rate through Google Analytics. You need to set a goal and once the goal is set, Google Analytics tracks the conversions every time the goal is completed.

4) Create an account before purchase

Some merchants need customers to register before making a purchase. And this makes some customers feel uncomfortable in sharing their personal information and consequently opt out.

5) High Shipping Costs

There are many brands and companies that charge unreasonable shipping costs for the things they sell. Customers who do not purchase multiple products or buy products in bulk will find this extremely expensive. In addition, today’s customers do not accept excessive shipping costs for products that are not delivered within a few days. As a result, customers are redirected to other websites in search of better deals or free shipping options. Nothing irritates customer’s more than hidden fees.

6) Find affordable price on other platforms

Consumers are notably research-driven in today’ era of on-line shopping. They search through several websites and compare costs before creating online purchases. Thus, better rating on different sites can tend to distract shoppers removed from your store as a result of they’re perpetually on the seek for an improved deal right up till the ultimate minute of their transaction.

7) Complicated Checkout Process

The checkout process involves specific steps that a consumer must go through to complete a transaction. It is the place where the customer completes their product selection, confirms the delivery option and makes the payment to purchase the product. Therefore, a well-designed and simple checkout is required to reduce consumer abandonment.

8) Lack of customer support

Another major cause of cart abandonment is a lack of effective consumer support. This not only distracts your current customers but also confuses new customers because many times, a customer will not receive sufficient assistance from the support personnel while looking through the merchandise.

9) Didn’t find Coupon Code

Not being able to find the relevant Coupon code is also a leading cause of cart abandonment because this code is not shown in the correct location, which wastes important time and upsets your consumers. Now the question is what can be done to reduce the cart abandonment rate? The best way is to optimize the checkout process on your e-commerce site. Here are twenty surefire ways to do it:

20 Actionable Tips to Reduce Cart Abandonment

Below are the 16 methods where you can reduce checkout abandonment.

1) Optimize Page Speed

If the page speed is less then it not only affects the current visit of the customers, but it is highly likely that they will hesitate in visiting your website in future also. A speedy checkout process can immensely boost the user experience in a positive way. There are various reasons that cause slow shopping cart page speed like a lot of pages in the check-out process, various page objects, etc. Optimizing the page speed will boost sales and customers will be more inclined to buy products in the future from your website

2) Restriction on Product Quantity

The e-commerce website should mention the quantity limit for every product because if a customer adds certain products and at the end of, they find out that they cannot buy the product because of the restrictions on product quantity or limited quantity available then it can be very frustrating for the customers. This can increase the shopping cart abandonment rate and it can ruin customers experience which will eventually affect the sales and revenue

3) Add Proper Information In Cart Page

It should be easy to find the total price of any product and there should be no hidden costs like taxes. Thumbnails of the products should be clearly visible throughout the check-out process as it assures the customers about their product and purchase. There should be progress indicators on the check-out page because it allows users to know how much process is left to complete. Some of the other features that you can include in a shopping cart page are price & quantity, stock availability, payment options, etc.

4) Be Clear About Return & Refund Policy

Refund and return policies are very important for e-commerce because customers cannot try any product and that is why they want assurance that if anything is wrong with the product then they can easily return it and get the refund. A good return and refund policy motivates customers to buy any product without giving it a second thought.

5) Delivery Time

Usually, customers want their products to be delivered over a certain period and if there is an unexpected delivery time then customers will look for the product on any other e-commerce platform. The unexpected delivery time can be a huge turn-off for customers, and it will increase the shopping cart abandonment rate.

6) Offer Live Chat Support

Live chat support can be very helpful for customers as they can easily find help and ask questions if they are facing difficulty at any point. Live chat support is easily accessible and e-commerce websites can interact in real-time with the customers to solve their issues and difficulties. This can significantly decrease the shopping cart abandonment rate.

7) Install the SSL Certificate

When customers make a purchase, they put a lot of trust in the e-retailer. While making a purchase, they hand over their personal financial information to you and with so many credit card breaches happening over the years, customers need to feel safe while transacting on your site. There are many shoppers do not place orders at the last minute if they feel insecure while buying from an ecommerce website. The best way to eliminate this fear is by installing an SSL certificate and having secure site badges on your site. This will let the customers know that their connection is secure, which will eventually help in creating a trustworthy process. The importance of an SSL certificate for eCommerce site is very high and every e-commerce store should install it. 30% users have said that they have to re-enter the credit card information and that’s the main reason they abandons the cart – If your site has SSL certificate and other trusted badges than they trust if there was some issue in adding the credit card info on checkout page.

In 2016 Baymard Institute done research on what kind of badges on eCommerce sites gives the most trust to customers and it includes some popular trusted badges. So, don’t wait and secure your site as soon as possible to reduce basket abandonment ratio.

8) Keep Transparent Shipping Cost

The customers should know the exact cost while browsing through your products. Unexpected cost is one of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment. Most of these unexpected costs consist of shipping charges and delivery fees that come at the end of the checkout process. It shocks the customers many a time and it can be possible for them to feel cheated sometimes. The best way to tackle this problem is to be transparent about the shipping charges. Every eCommerce store should fix one small banner at the top of the website by adding shipping details or need to create a separate page regarding shipping details which builds trust amongst customers that they are not getting cheated. If the shipping cost or tax varies based on location then one can set the estimated shipping cost & tax calculator on the checkout page so, customers can see there is no hidden cost and can calculate the shipping cost accordingly.

9) Add Guest Checkout Option

Always try to keep the checkout process short, simple and hassle-free. One way of doing it is not forcing customers to create an account on your site.  Not everyone who lands on your site has the time to make an account; rather they must be solely interested in buying something. So, instead of giving them the trouble related to creating an account, just have a guest checkout option and close the deal. You can only take an Email ID to send transaction mail, bill, and order tracking details during the guest checkout process rather than all details.

Note – No need to add pop up of sign up on every page as well – Don’t frustrate the visitor of your site

10) Maintain Quick Outreach

When a cart is abandoned, never put your trust solely on an auto response. Give personal attention to it.  Be quick in your response every time you get a notification of an abandoned cart and offer a helping hand to the users. Understand their pain points, and try to help them with their problems. Even if you cannot help them all the time, your sincere approach can surely make them appreciate your gesture. Still confused? Well, we have seen many cases where users abandons the cart just because of coupon code error or card authorization error. In this case provide live chat option directly on check out page so, they can simply drop message without visiting the contact us form and had to wait for long process.

Note – We have seen and experienced quick outreach on travel booking sites or loan booking sites. As soon as you close the site without booking or inquire anything they will call you within an hour and it works.

11) Send E-mail after Cart Abandonment

Many a time users abandon the cart just before checkout. In that case get their mail id. Use it as a source of communication and set an email drip to notify them of the left items in the cart. Follow up those mails for a period of 24 hours. If there is no response, keep them updated about the latest discounts and coupon codes to trigger a call to action and completion of the process. Note: Don’t spam their inbox by sending mails again and again.

12) Perform Remarketing Ads

Despite all your efforts, if you find that cart abandonment cannot be nullified completely, you can surely get back to such users with remarketing ads. Place a Facebook tracking pixel or Google Remarketing Tag on your site which will capture the behavior of a visitor. Craft a Facebook ad campaign or Google Dynamic Remarketing Ads that target those users who left your website without making any purchase. Create ads based on the products they viewed, and tempt them into making a purchase. Here is the list of audience for whom ecommerce store can set up remarketing ads and grabs sales from abandon cart users. Audience 1 – Visited cart page but didn’t make any purchase (Average chances for sales) Audience 2 – Visited Checkout page but didn’t make any purchase (Higher chances for sales)

13) Offer Coupon Codes / Free Shipping/ Promotion Details

On your website’s cart page, highlight what extra you have to offer. Customers love new offers, coupon codes, and discounts. Thus if you have any coupon code or discount for a particular product, showcase them in the checkout process. Moreover, if you keep the shipping free, it will bring a lot of smiles. Show the customers that they can get a great deal if they complete the checkout process. There are plenty of Ecommerce promotion ideas that can be apply to your store including

• Free Shipping
• Percentage based discounts
• BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1 Free)
• Quantity Discounts

14) Have Multiple Payment options

It is very important to have multiple payment options on your ecommerce site. With the increased use of plastic cash like credit cards and digital wallets, it is necessary that you keep all the options open. Doing so will help in improving conversions. Also, it will not turn away users who are habitual to a particular payment method.

As per above statistics users prefers to pay via Credit cards, PayPal (Electronic payment) & Debit card mostly so, these kind of payment methods should be there on your ecommerce story without fail.

15) Limit the Checkout Process

Follow the principle of KISS (Keep It Simple and Short) for your eCommerce website checkout process. The more clicks a user does on a site, the higher are the chances of cart abandonment. A report says, 28% of US online shoppers have abandoned an order in the past quarter solely due to a long or complicated checkout process. So, keep the number of clicks to three, let a user choose a product, add it to the cart, and check it out, resulting in simpler, faster, and better conversions.

16) Minimize Distractions

The attention span of a person has drastically reduced to a mere eight seconds, so it is very important that you keep your website clean. Do not add too many banners or showcase too many ads. Cut off the unnecessary product.

17) Reduce shipping costs

According to a recent survey, nearly 80% of customers said that a lower price or free shipping was a deciding factor in whether or not they made an online purchase. This aspect entices the buyer and compels him or her to shop.

18) Add trust signal

One of the best factors that promotes a sense of belonging among consumers to buy from an unknown source and make payment is trust. Furthermore, if customers do not feel secure when making a purchase on your website, your conversions will suffer.

• Add customer reviews, text, and video testimonials
• Add social proof to your checkout page
• Include contact information

19) Offer incentives with exit popups

Offer incentives with exit popups are some of the most lucrative thing that holds your consumers from going anywhere else. In fact, it is one of the primary reasons why customers return to your website.

20) Use Analytics to Monitor Abandonment

Today the market is loaded with numerous tools like Google Analytics and other technologies by which Retailers can measure desertion rates and spot patterns or changes in customer behaviour. Further, this can assist merchants in identifying issues that may be affecting cart abandonment rates and finding solutions that enhance checkout conversion. So, you will have a concise idea about the shopping cart abandonment rate on your site by visiting Conversions – Goals – Funnel Visualization data in Google Analytics.

Conclusion

These are some high priority steps to optimize the checkout process to grab sales from users who abandons the cart. Reach out to those users via Email, Ad platform, social media and every possible way so, they come back to your store and buys that thing. Just one thing – Don’t spam their news feed, timeline, mail box by showing the ad again and again else they will mark it as a spam and may not come to your store again in future.