10 Proven Tactics To Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

In 2022, shopping cart abandonment reached a time-high of 69.57%. So, why are customers leaving an eCommerce website, and what can be done to reduce it?

This article will discuss the most prevalent reasons why consumers quit shopping carts and what an eCommerce entrepreneur can do to decrease shopping cart abandonment.

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What are the reasons behind shopping cart abandonment?

• Extra Costs: Extra costs are the number one reason shoppers abandon carts. According to in-depth research by Baymard Institute, 55% of survey respondents cited this as the top reason behind shopping cart abandonment.‍

• Forced to create an account: The number two reason behind cart abandonment is forceful account creation. About one-third of eCommerce shoppers feel the same.‍

• Page loading speed: 57% of shoppers would abandon a website if they had to wait three seconds to load a page. 80% of these customers never return.‍

• Re-enter credit card/shipping information: Statista found that 30% of shoppers will leave if they have to re-enter their credit card information, and 25% will leave if they have to re-enter their shipping information. ‍

• Discount code not working: 46% of shoppers abandon the cart if discount codes do not work.‍

• Difficulty in entering personal information: 39% of mobile users abandon an eCommerce website if they face problems entering personal information.

• ‍Long checkout process: An ideal process should consist of three steps: product selection, add to cart and check out. The simpler the checkout process, the better the conversions.‍

• Customers are just browsing: 81% of customers explore eCommerce sites to determine the best deals and have no purchase intentions.

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Cart abandonment rates by sector

• Retail: 77.01%

• Fashion: 84.43%

• Travel: 87.08%

• Utilities: 75.80%

• All Sectors: 81.08%

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‍Proven tactics to reduce shopping cart abandonment

‍1) Offer guest checkout

Adding guest checkout functionality to your eCommerce website can transform how you do online business. Your customers will be delighted to complete their orders without creating an account during checkout.

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The conversion rates of an eCommerce website can increase by 45% merely by offering a guest checkout option. This useful option allows consumers to continue making purchases without being sent to a signup sequence.

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Additionally, you may offer them the chance to create an account and become a member following their purchase. But this important step removes one potential cause of cart abandonment.

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Best practices of guest checkout

• Limit guest checkout to a single page to fit contact information, billing address, delivery address, and payment details.

• Pay special attention to website speed, as having a non-responsive site can hurt customer satisfaction with online shopping.

• Use specific CTA descriptions like continue shopping, apply promo code, and proceed to checkout to describe the next step to customers.

• Allow users to save their customer details at the end of the transaction.

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2) Offer free shipping

According to a recent study, nearly 80% of shoppers stated that free shipping was a key factor in whether or not they completed a purchase online. According to another research, about 44% of consumers didn't finish the purchase because it wouldn't arrive on time.

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• The free shipping offers are the best way to encourage your shoppers to convert. These offers play a major role in converting potential customers into actual buyers.

•  It can be applied to all shopping carts, irrespective of the number of products added or the total amount. When potential customers see no shipping cost, they are more likely to add items to their cart and boost overall sales of the eCommerce site.

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Benefits of providing free shipping on your eCommerce store

• Attract sales-qualified traffic to the online store

• Gain the upper hand against your competitors

• A surefire way to increase the conversion rate

• Increase Average Order Value (AOV)

• Boosts customer loyalty

3) Offer multiple payment options

A few years ago, most eCommerce businesses were limited to having credit cards and debit cards as their payment options. But after the introduction of digital wallets, things have changed a lot. 

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Now, brands are attempting to integrate as many popular payment methods as Gift cards, PayPal, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), UPI & digital wallets on their website to avoid situations when online buyers have no choice but to leave the transaction at the last minute.

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Benefits of offering multiple payment options

• Hassle-free checkout

• Increased conversion rate

• Lesser abandoned cart

• Customer satisfaction

• Brand Credibility

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You can always select a payment method from Fynd Platform’s ever-expanding list of options if you want your application to support them. 40% of visitors abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load a page, and each additional second reduces your conversion rate.

As a result, it is critical that your entire website loads quickly, grow customer engagement, and minimizes shopping cart abandonment.

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Several tested methods exist for increasing the page loading speed

• Optimizing photos (photo size, Alt Text, Image description) to achieve a healthy balance of loading speed & quality

• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) that works in tandem to deliver your web content more quickly

• Putting a cap on the use of social plugins

• Reducing the number of redirects eliminates extra processing time

• Using Content Management System (CMS) designed for eCommerce

• Parsing of JavaScript by mobile browsers increases the page loading time

• Keeping HTTP requests under 50 can help in page load optimization

• Using browser caching can help a lot

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5) Increase trustworthiness

According to a crucial report, more than 35% of users will abandon a website if it lacks a security badge. If you are unsure which security badges to use, a Baymard poll indicated that Norton (35.6%) was the most trustworthy, followed by McAfee (22.9%), TRUSTe (13.2%), and BBB Accredited (13.2%).

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Apart from security badges, additional website security features such as password encryption and an SSL certificate demonstrate to clients that you care about their security and that the badges are not merely for show.

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Few important tips to make your eCommerce website trustworthy and credible

• Display social proof like user testimonials, reviews, ratings, and customer feedback

• Include a 360-degree view of products and high-quality images to make your website look professional

• Display your customer service number and operating hours on the website

• Add contact information to show your office address on Google Maps as well as the email id

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6) Improve your return policy

66% of customers check the return policy before making a purchase, making it essential for retailers to think through the return policies before starting an online business. Most buyers learn about a company's return policy when they have to return a defective product, wrong size, incorrectly delivered products, or for any other reason.

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They also fear their money will be stuck if companies do not accept a return for the ordered products. Suppose your eCommerce business has cumbersome return and refund policies. In that case, the likelihood is that the majority of shoppers will avoid your website and may spread poor word-of-mouth marketing. 

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Offering a more seamless and hassle-free policy reassures customers that their products will be returned on time and that they will receive their money back from the company.

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Benefits of improving return policy

• You will earn the trust of potential clients and increase sales.

• It will help manage customer expectations and avoid future disagreements and misunderstandings.

• The policy creates a sense of security for customers, who are more likely to trust your business if your return policy is clear.

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7) Use progress indicator on checkout pages

In a study by UPS, 20% of people said their main reason for cart abandonment was that the checkout process was too long and confusing. Progress indicators are intended to address this specific issue.

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You can simplify the entire shopping process by informing people precisely where they are in the purchasing process and how long it is expected to take them to finish the transaction. Incorporating a progress indicator on your checkout pages can improve your consumer’s overall online shopping experience.

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‍Key features of an effective progress indicator

• Easily visible

• Simple words

• A bold, stripped-back design

• Offers visuals that align with your brand

• Shows the direction of the progressive movement. As a rule, it is from left to right

• Incorporates an indicator that demonstrates successful completion of each step

• It is immediately clear which step the user is on, which steps have been finished, and how many remain.

• Greeting final message with results

Some important progress bar creator tools

• A progress bar on Weebly

• A progress bar on Themify

• Progress bar chart

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8) Improve eCommerce site navigation

A human being's attention span is merely 8 seconds. It means an online store has a tiny opportunity window to capture and retain customers' attention. Effective design and easy navigation are critical components of that effort.

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Your site's design should radiate a sense of wonder. At the same time, the navigation should provide your customers with an intuitive, ultra-smooth experience that takes them from browsing to checkout in a matter of seconds. When these elements are executed properly, they increase revenue and assist you in establishing a loyal consumer base.

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Here are five effective strategies to improve eCommerce site navigation, whether you are developing your first eCommerce store or overhauling an existing one.

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• ‍Keep the design uniform: You need to choose a layout that should have a uniform look & feel on every single page of your website. This step assures that your customer becomes a pro at navigating your website.‍

• Categorize effectively: eCommerce stores should be divided into clear categories like formal wear, casual wear, fresh stock, accessories & more. Relevant categories simplify navigation and enhance your consumers' experience.‍

• Include a search bar: By adding a search bar to your online business, you can cater to window shoppers and consumers with a specific purpose.‍

• Simplify your checkout: By making your checkout process as simple as possible, you enhance the likelihood of converting potential clients into paying customers.‍

• Use clear labels: When shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, consumers often find signs to help them navigate the entire store easily. It keeps individuals from buying blindly, hoping to see what they want. The same goes for an eCommerce store. Every button and product should be clearly labelled to help customers find their needs.

9) Use intent-based incentives

Another effective way to reduce online shopping cart abandonment is to convert more users by using intent-based incentives. However, the most important point is that if the customer's action of adding an item to their shopping cart is not motivated by purchase, you will not receive a conversion.

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Some crucial situations involving an online customer browsing an eCommerce website can be:

• Customers are simply browsing and have no intention of purchasing, despite adding items to their shopping cart.

• Sometimes, consumers are undecided and want a gentle nudge to convert.

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Here are some activities one can do to incentivize users to make an immediate purchase:

• Offer limited-time offers to create a sense of urgency

• Offer personalized promotions based on real-time behaviour

• Use a scarcity strategy like a limited stock to increase same-session conversions

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10) Send abandoned cart emails

Setting up an automated cart abandonment email is an excellent technique to reduce cart abandonment rates. Look at some of the highly encouraging statistics on the success of abandoned cart emails.

• On average, 45% of abandoned cart emails are opened

• Out of the opened emails, 21% of them received click-throughs

• Half of the recipients who engaged with the content of the email completed their purchase

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Benefits of sending an abandoned cart email:

• Barilliance has found that personalized cart abandonment emails reduce cart abandonment by 10%-30%.

• Cart abandonment emails enable you to reconnect with cart abandoners, engage in conversation with them, and develop a relationship with them.

• You can enhance the customer experience by showing concern and finding a unique solution for their problems.

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Every eCommerce business understands the critical nature of cart abandonment. The latest shopping cart abandonment rate indicates that nearly four out of five potential customers abandon their selected products, resulting in a significant loss of revenue for the business. 

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Cart abandonment must be efficiently managed to enhance sales and profitability in an eCommerce firm. This blog post discusses tried-and-tested strategies for lowering shopping cart abandonment and increasing conversions.

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We hope you find this article enjoyable! Please get in touch with us if you have any questions. You can request a free demo to learn how to create an efficient eCommerce website in just 30 minutes, and a member of the Fynd Platform team will reach out to you.