How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
The winter holidays are the heaviest sales period for many small businesses. When you’ve got more customers coming to your website, you want them to stick around until their purchase is complete. Yet, studies show that almost half of all shopping carts get abandoned for one reason or another. Make an early New Year’s resolution to reduce shopping cart abandonment with these 5 tips.
Manage shipping costs. High shipping costs are the biggest reason why potential customers ditch their shopping carts full of goods. You can’t control what the Post Office or Federal Express charges but you can make the bad news easier for your customers. State shipping costs up front to avoid unpleasant last minute surprises. Offer a range of shipping options so people can get reduced rates when they don’t need the item in a hurry. Most of all, beware of tacking on extra charges to cover handling or guarantee a replacement, especially if you promised free shipping. It will breed mistrust and ill will.
Let people know where they are in the process. Use a progress bar to show people how much they’ve completed compared to how much they’ve got left to finalize their purchase. You can break it down into categories like Checkout, Billing and Shipping, Order Confirmation and Order Complete. Or you can have it show a decreasing percentage as they go through each step. Of course, the bar needs to be accurate so you don’t lose credibility and irritate your customers.
Give second chances. About one third of shoppers will leave but try to come back to complete their purchase. Keep their carts waiting for them by using persistent cookies. Otherwise, they probably will take their business elsewhere. If you capture emails early in the process, it’s also a good idea to send trigger emails reminding them that they started a purchase. Just don’t overdo it.
Allow guest purchases. Many people don’t want to spend time registering or give out their personal information. This is especially true when it’s likely to be a one-time purchase like a holiday gift for someone else. Give people the option to make guest purchases and put that before the registration menu so they see it in time.
Offer good deals and coupons. Consumers these days are comparison shopping and looking for coupons and discounts on everything. Provide special promotion codes to call attention to the best deals you have to offer and help people feel like they’re getting a bargain.
Leave no shopping cart behind. Put these suggestions to work to simplify your check out process and increase your percentage of completed sales.
