Cart abandonment costs the ecommerce industry over $18 billion in lost sales and revenue each year. While this figure might seem excessive because those people likely weren’t all going to purchase anyway, it still represents a significant issue that is at play: getting customers over the final hurdle through checkout and not a completed sale, which ultimately is the aim of the game.

In the US alone, cart abandonment reached all-time highs of 84%, with the issue more prevalent for mobile carts. But it’s not simply a case of the customer not actually having any intention to buy; there could be many things you, as a business or your website, are overlooking that contribute to the problem.

This post is going to dive into some ways you can reduce abandoned carts and increase sales.

Intent

One of the main things you need to do to help you reduce abandoned carts is to understand that not everyone intends to buy, and only 2% of shoppers plan to buy on their first visit to an ecommerce store. This means you can direct your attention away from trying to stop all abandoned carts to those who you can convert, i.e., those who actually want to make a purchase. 

Putting your effort in the right places means you can secure a higher conversion rate instead of thinking everyone abandons for the same reason. To reinforce this, research by the Baynard Institute found that the top reason for cart abandonment was that the shopper wasn’t ready to buy, which was echoed by 58.6% of those surveyed. These are people you likely won’t easily convert first time.

Improve Checkout

If you’re following the data and finding that you are having more of an issue at checkout than at any other stage of the process, then you need to address concerns within your checkout process.

Do you need to make it simpler? Do you need a woocommerce payment integration that keeps shoppers onsite rather than directing them elsewhere to make payments? Or do you need to include more payment options so that people can decide how they want to pay?

The easier it is for people to check out, the more likely they will be to do it when they get to this point.

Clear Shipping Costs

Excessive or misleading shipping costs are a massive grip for shoppers and a major reason why people abandon their carts. These additional hefty charges can be enough to keep people from continuing, and they’ll simply click off and shop elsewhere.

If you don’t have a clear shipping price on your site for people to check out or if you don’t offer varying levels of shipping options at different price points, this can be off-putting.

However, the potential for improved conversions from offering free shipping can make the effort worthwhile. While you will need to cover the cost or adjust prices to accommodate free shipping, it is a compelling offer for customers. Free shipping not only reduces instances of abandoned carts but also increases the order value. If offering free shipping for all orders is not feasible, consider offering it for orders above a certain price point to achieve the same result.

Guest Checkouts

More research from the Baynard Institute found that 37% of those abandoning their carts did so because they were forced to create an account. While creating an account is beneficial for you and the customer, it’s important to remember that not everyone wants to do so. If you’re not giving them the option to checkout as a guest, they’ll simply look elsewhere for someone who offers this. Understanding and respecting the customer’s perspective can help you secure more sales.

If you’re able to offer guest checkout with a checkbox, for example, to use details entered to create an account, this can address the account portion of the customer’s sale, but giving the option of both or not creating an account can help you to secure more sales.

Increase Security

In an age when scams are commonplace and many people are duped into entering details on fake sites, shoppers are becoming increasingly cautious about sharing their payment details and personal information. With this in mind, it’s crucial to prioritize your site’s security. Meeting qualifying conditions for site badges such as McAfee, TRUSTe, and BBB Accredited can help you reassure your customers that you take their security seriously and they can shop with confidence on your site.

As you can see, multiple ways exist to reduce the number of abandoned carts in your e-commerce store. While not all strategies will work for all businesses, it is essential that before you make any changes, you understand how carts are being abandoned, at which point in the funnel it’s happening more, and from where you can look to rectify any problems.

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