Merchants put a lot of effort into attracting new customers through SEO, PPC or social media marketing to name a few. However, attracting new customers is only half of the battle if they do not make a purchase. Merchants need to convince customers to convert. Abandoned carts and conversion rate optimization are struggles that merchants of every size experience.
In fact, eCommerce merchants collectively missed out on $7 trillion in abandoned shopping carts in 2017. With much time, effort, and money spent on getting customers to the checkout, it’s tough to lose a conversion at the last second.
For merchants experiencing abandoned cart issues, here are a few ways to increase conversions.
Identify The Problem
The first thing to do is identify why customers are leaving their carts. There could be several factors at play, and it’s important to recognize them all. There are a few common factors among sites that see high cart abandonment rates, which include:
- Surprise fees, such as taxes or shipping
- Forcing the user to create an account before checkout
- A complicated or lengthy checkout process
- Trained customer base to wait for a promo
Analyzing the check out process from start to finish is critical. Do any of the above factors apply? One way to receive feedback on the shopping experience is to ask customers directly. For instance, ensure your sales and service team is in constant communication with your eCommerce team to convey customer comments and issues so they can be identified and resolved. A survey is also a great way to learn why some customers are abandoning their cart, and learn more about the user experience as a whole. It is becoming more common for site visitors to begin checkout and then intentionally stop, waiting for the best promo email to come their way. Then they circle back to complete their order after receiving a coupon code.
Fix the Problem
Once potential abandonment issues are identified, it’s important to resolve them. For example, on matters concerning shipping costs, be sure to show taxes and shipping rates as soon as possible. Notably, 61% of customers said they abandoned a cart due to high shipping rates. Make those costs known upfront and before customers reach the final checkout page.
For issues concerning an account required checkout, consider implementing a guest checkout option. With 35% of customers noting that they abandoned their cart due to needing to create an account, it would be prudent to offer this option. Conveniently, Magento merchants can implement a guest checkout option in the admin.
For more tips to streamline the check out process, read more about the path to purchase shopping experience.
There are plenty of ways to streamline the checkout process, and the effort to do so will pay off in conversions.
Bring Customers Back
Even merchants with a seamless checkout process will experience cart abandonment – it’s just part of the game. Customers may experience interruptions while shopping, and then forget to come back and finish the purchase. One way to get customers to return to their carts is with an abandoned shopping cart eMail strategy that includes eMail reminders. Personalized, timely retargeting eMails will move leads through the sales funnel at the right time.
Notably, eMail doesn’t have to be a chore, but it does require a well-thought strategy and seamless execution. One merchant found that sending a reminder eMail 30 minutes after a customer left their cart led to conversions. Further, the 30-minute reminder eMail strategy recovered 7.9% of what would have otherwise been lost sales.
Don’t Let Customers Get Away
High shopping cart abandonment rates can be frustrating, but they can also be an indicator of a more significant problem and an opportunity for growth. Analyzing and resolving shopping cart issues is a great way to enhance the user experience for customers and increase conversions and sales.
To learn more about cart abandonment and ways to streamline the checkout process, contact us to get started on your eCommerce project.