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Shopping cart abandonment is a huge issue for online stores.

In fact, it’s estimated that almost 70% of shopping carts are abandoned. That’s a lot of lost sales!

But don’t worry – in this guide, we're going to show you ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase your sales.

What is Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Put simply, shopping cart abandonment is when a shopper adds products to their shopping cart and then leaves the site without completing the purchase.

Top Reasons For Shopping Cart Abandonment

There are many reasons why shoppers abandon their shopping carts, including:

• The shopper was just browsing and not intending to buy anything
• The total cost of the purchase was higher than expected (due to shipping costs, taxes, etc.)
• The website was slow or difficult to use
• The shopper couldn’t find a coupon or discount code
• There were too many steps in the checkout process
• The shopper wasn’t ready to buy right now and wanted to save the items for later

Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment

Make sure your website is easy to navigate

In eCommerce, it's not always easy for customers to buy things. Sometimes people change their minds about what they want, or they might have a hard time finding what they're looking for. If it's hard for them to check out, they might not finish the process. That's bad for business!

That's why eCommerce companies are always trying to make it easier for customers to move between their shopping cart and the store. They want people to be able to buy things easily. You can help make this easier for customers by using web design principles that you already know about. For example, if someone has to click "Back" on your checkout page, you need to rethink your navigation flow!

Offer a variety of payment options (including finance)

Did you know that shoppers are more likely to complete a purchase if they're offered a variety of payment options? It's true! Klarna stated that 44% of shoppers said they would abandon their cart if there wasn't a finance option available, such as Buy Now, Pay Later.

There are lots of different payment options out there, so it's important to find the right mix for your business. Some popular options include credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet.

Provide clear and concise product information

When customers can't find the information they need about a product, they're more likely to abandon their shopping cart. That's why it's important to make sure your product information is clear and concise. You should include all the information your customers need, including:

• The name of the product
• The price of the product
• The dimensions of the product
• The weight of the product
• The colour of the product
• The material of the product
• The type of product

Guarantee satisfaction with a money-back or exchange policy

When customers are worried about whether or not they'll be satisfied with a purchase, they're less likely to complete the transaction. That's why it's important to guarantee satisfaction with a money-back or exchange policy. This will give your customers peace of mind and make them more likely to buy from you again in the future.

Add a save-for-later feature to your shopping cart

Sometimes shoppers aren't ready to buy when they add items to their shopping cart. They might want to think about it for a while or save the items for later. That's why it's important to add a save-for-later feature to your shopping cart. This way, customers can come back later and complete their purchase without having to start all over again.

Send abandoned cart emails

Abandoned cart emails are one of the best ways to remind customers about items they have left behind in their shopping cart. These emails can be sent automatically, and they often include a discount code to encourage customers to complete their purchases

Discount codes are a great way to motivate customers to complete their purchase, but you need to be careful not to overdo it. If you offer too many discounts, you might end up losing money on your sales.

A/B test your abandoned cart email campaigns to find the right mix of content and discounts that work for your business.

Stay accessible! Provide customer support throughout the shopping and checkout process.

When customers have questions, they're more likely to abandon their shopping cart. That's why it's important to provide customer support throughout the shopping and checkout process. You can do this by adding a live chat feature to your website or by providing a toll-free number for customers to call.

Use retargeting ads

Some people might leave their shopping carts on purpose, but you can try to get them back with retargeting ads. This is when you show them your product again, but only if they left the cart on purpose. It's very important to use remarketing, especially nowadays because people use many devices to shop online. If you don't use remarketing, you're limiting yourself to only one chance of getting the visitor to convert.

So don't forget to use remarketing as part of your eCommerce strategy – it could make all the difference in the success of your business.

Accept Any Currency

If you are an international retailer, one way to reduce shopping cart abandonment is to accept any currency. This way, shoppers will not have to worry about conversion rates and can simply focus on finding the products they want. You can either list all of the currencies you accept on your website or use a currency converter tool to show the shopper what the total cost will be in their home currency.

Use scarcity and fear of missing out (FOMO) to your advantage

People are more likely to complete a purchase if they think the item is in limited supply or if they're afraid of missing out on a great deal. You can use this to your advantage by creating urgency and scarcity around your products. For example, you can offer a flash sale for a limited time only or highlight that there's only a few items left in stock. This will encourage shoppers to complete their purchase before it's too late.

To implement this tactic you can use countdown timers.

There are two types of countdown timers you can use in your eCommerce store. Static timers count down to a set date, while dynamic timers count down for all of your visitors at the same rate. Using a dynamic timer can help persuade more people to take advantage of your special offer before it expires.

Use personalisation to build rapport with customers

Personalisation is all about making a connection with your customer. By showing that you understand their needs, you can build rapport and trust. This will encourage them to complete their purchase from your store.

There are many ways you can personalise the shopping experience for your customers. For example, you can recommend products based on their past purchases or browsing history. You can also show relevant product suggestions on your product pages.

Use Exit-Intent Popups

An exit-intent popup is a type of marketing tool that's designed to stop people from leaving your website. It works by showing a popup when the user moves their mouse cursor to leave the page.

This is an effective way to reduce shopping cart abandonment because it gives you one last chance to offer a discount or promotion before the customer leaves.

Offer Free Shipping

One of the most effective methods to reduce shopping cart abandonment is to provide free delivery. In fact, it's the number 1 thing people said made them add a product to their shopping cart.

If you’re not offering free shipping, start doing so. And if you are already offering free shipping, make sure that it’s prominently displayed on your website and in your shopping cart.

Offer a guest checkout option

If you require customers to create an account before they can checkout, you're likely losing a lot of sales. A study by the Baymard Institute found that 24% of people abandon their shopping cart because they don't want to create an account.

To combat this, make sure that you offer a guest checkout option so that people can complete their purchase without creating an account.

Make sure your website is secure and trustworthy

When people are shopping online, they want to know that their personal and financial information is safe. If your website doesn't look secure, shoppers will be hesitant to complete a purchase.

There are a few things you can do to make your website more secure and trustworthy. First, make sure that your website has an SSL certificate. This will ensure that all data passing through your site is encrypted. You can also add trust seals from companies like Norton or McAfee to show that your site is safe.

Incentivise higher spending

If you want to encourage people to spend more money in your store, offer order discounts. For example, you can offer a 10% discount for orders over £100. This will give shoppers an incentive to add more items to their cart so they can take advantage of the discount.

You can also offer free gifts or samples with orders over a certain amount. This is a great way to increase the average order value and reduce shopping cart abandonment at the same time.

Have a checkout progress bar

A checkout progress bar is an element that's placed on the checkout page to show the customer how far along they are in the process. This can be a helpful way to reduce shopping cart abandonment because it helps people feel like they're making progress.

Enable One-Click Shopping

One-click shopping is a feature that allows customers to add products to their cart and checkout without having to go through the usual steps. This can be a great way to reduce shopping cart abandonment because it makes the process quicker and easier for customers.

Make the Cart Easy to Edit

One of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment is because customers get frustrated trying to edit their cart. Make it easy for them to adjust their order by clearly displaying an “edit” button next to each item in the cart. You can also provide a link to a “view cart” page where they can see all the items in their order and make changes as needed.

If you want to take it a step further, you can allow customers to edit their items directly from any page on your website by having a cart that can show as an overlay on any of your pages.

Provide Helpful Error Messages

One of the most frustrating things about online shopping is encountering an error message. Whether it's a payment error, shipping error, or something else, these messages can cause customers to abandon their shopping carts.

To reduce shopping cart abandonment, it's important to provide helpful and informative error messages. This way, customers will know what went wrong and how to fix it. Additionally, make sure to include a customer service number or email address on the error page so they can contact you for help.

Here are some tips for writing helpful error messages:

• Be clear and concise
• Use simple language
• Avoid technical jargon
• Provide a solution or next steps
• Include a customer service number or email address

Boost Site Speed

One of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment is slow site speed. eCommerce shoppers are generally impatient, and if your site takes too long to load, they're likely to give up and go elsewhere.

There are a few different ways to boost your site's speed, including:

• Optimising your images for faster loading
• Reducing the number of plugins and scripts your site is loading
• Enabling browser caching
• Minifying your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code
• Using a content delivery network (CDN)

If you're not sure where to start, try running your site through a tool like Pingdom or GTmetrix to see where you can make improvements.

Show Clear Calls to Action

Your calls to action (CTAs) should be clear and easy to spot. If people can't find the buttons they need to click, they're likely to get frustrated and abandon their shopping carts.

Make sure your CTAs are:

• Visible
• Easy to understand
• Actionable
• Relevant

For example, if you want people to add items to their cart, your CTA should say something like “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now”.

If you want people to sign up for your email list, your CTA should say something like “Sign Up” or “Get Updates”.

Improve your mobile checkout experience

eCommerce businesses need to focus on creating a seamless and user-friendly mobile checkout experience. Shopping cart abandonment rates are significantly higher on mobile devices than on desktops so it’s important to pay attention to the details of your mobile checkout process.

Some tips for improving your mobile checkout experience include:

• Make sure your pages are loading quickly and correctly on all devices
• Use large, easy-to-tap buttons for action items like “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now”
• Include progress indicators so shoppers know how many steps are involved in the checkout process
• Offer guest checkout options for if customers don’t want to create an account

Reduce complexity and minimise clicks to streamline the checkout

Another way to reduce shopping cart abandonment is to streamline the checkout process and make it as simple and easy as possible for customers to complete their purchases There are many ways you can do this, such as:

• Reducing the number of steps in the checkout process
• Using a one-page checkout process
• Making it easy to enter payment information
• Offering multiple payment options
• Displaying shipping costs upfront

Display cart total with every addition

It's important to keep your customers informed of the total cost of their purchase as they add items to their shopping cart. This way, there are no surprises at checkout and customers are less likely to abandon their carts.

A good idea is to display the cart total in the header or sidebar of your store so that it's always visible.

Have UGC

User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful weapon in the eCommerce world. It's been shown to increase conversions, build trust, and improve customer satisfaction levels.

Some examples of UGC include:

• Customer reviews and testimonials
• Product photos and videos from customers
• Social media posts from customers

If you don't have any UGC on your product pages yet, start by reaching out to your most engaged customers and asking them to leave reviews or post photos/videos of their experience with your products.

Have wishlists

Wishlists are a great way to encourage customers to come back to your store and complete their purchases. They also allow customers to keep track of items they're interested in without having to add them to their shopping carts right away.

If you don't have wishlists set up on your eCommerce store yet, consider doing so — it's a quick and easy way to improve customer satisfaction and increase sales.

Conclusion

There are many ways to reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts on your eCommerce store By understanding why people abandon their carts, you can take steps to correct the problem and increase sales. Try implementing some of these tactics today and see how they help!