Shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem for businesses of all sizes. There is a multitude of reasons that customers abandon their cart but there are ways to win them back. The trick is in knowing how to get, keep and win over customers who will complete their shopping experience with you the first time and every time thereafter.
It is not enough to simply persuade a customer to complete the checkout process; you want them to come back again. With the right tips, your customer base will grow and customer retention will help you keep them coming back repeatedly.
Customers overwhelmingly abandon their cart before completing the checkout process and your business is not the only one suffering the consequences. In fact, Baynard recently published cart abandonment rate statistics to have all the statistics in one place. The results are staggering. While the percent of e-commerce shopping cart abandonment rates fluctuate between the sources somewhat, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.53 per cent.
Use a simple design on your page to give customers what they want now. Keep the links to a minimum.
Keep it simple
It is imperative that your site is easy to read and easy to navigate. Customers do not want to click through a dozen links to get to the product or service they came to your site to purchase. They will quickly abandon their cart in favor of another company where they can easily find and purchase what they want or need.
Make your site mobile-friendly. Many shoppers use their mobile devices to make online purchases. If they cannot easily make their purchase and complete the checkout process from their mobile device, you risk losing many customers who will go to another online site that is more mobile friendly.
Using email
Avoid endless popup messages badgering the customer to sign up for your email list – this is very off-putting.
Instead invite people to sign up to receive emails from you via an opt-in form on your website.
The idea is to develop a relationship with your customers by providing them with information, tips or insights that they will find useful and worth reading.
This will make them more likely to trust you and if they trust you then they are more likely to buy from you.
Send a welcome message to those who do sign up and then have a follow up series which has been specifically designed to give your email subscribers the kind of information they are looking for. RocketResponder has been designed to fulfil this role without you having to spend too much time on email marketing.
Make sure the email subject line has your business name so the customer does not delete it before reading it, thinking it is spam. That way you only get customers who are truly interested in receiving your emails.
No surprises
Keep customers informed up front to avoid sticker shock near the end of the checkout process. Customers want to know what their total cost is upfront before they reach checkout. Hiding add-ons such as shipping charges, processing and handling fees creates sticker shock for some customers when their $29 item is now $50 at checkout. When customers can easily link to your shipping charges or other fees upfront, it increases the chances of a completed sale. Customers do not want to feel you deceived them by hiding additional fees and charges until the very end of their shopping experience.
Offering customer perks shows the customer that you have their satisfaction in mind. Perks such as free or reduced shipping, loyalty bonuses for repeat customers, free returns if the customer is not satisfied with their purchase and live customer support are just some ideas that help to build trust with your customer base. Making these perks easily visible and not hidden somewhere is crucial.
To get customers to complete the checkout process, you have to give them the incentive to do so. Making the checkout process simple and with minimum time involved can contribute to customer satisfaction. Customers do not have time to go through a lengthy or complicated checkout process. Keep it simple and watch your shopping cart abandonment rates decrease.
Thanks Justin! All the tips help as we learn something new every day! 😀
tips are great in this business
Yeah, people get lazy with their businesses when they get burnout, get comfortable, get into something that they don’t know what they’re doing, etc.