58.6% of U.S. online shoppers abandon carts because they’re browsing or not ready to buy. Many of these would-be shoppers abandon the cart before starting the checkout process, making these losses unavoidable. In other scenarios, customers leave their online cart because of friction in a merchant’s shopping experience; this is preventable. Here are some ways ecommerce brands can improve their shopping cart abandonment rates and recover lost revenue.
Provide Guest Checkout Options: Allowing customers to avoid account creation if they wish reduces the time required to check out by eliminating additional steps while allowing shoppers who don’t want to share personal information to confidently complete a purchase.
Include Product Thumbnails: Shoppers sometimes add several items to a cart and forget what they’re buying or choose a customizable item and want to ensure they’re selecting the proper specs; some website visitors will delete items from a cart, return to the product page to double-check the product, and never finish the purchase. By including product thumbnail images and a key product specification summary, you can offer customers some reassurance during the checkout process.
Include Progress Indicators: Adding progress bars tells customers how many more steps are left in the checkout process, creating a sense of momentum that reduces the possibility of customers dropping off because of an unnecessarily long-drawn-out checkout process. An almost-completed progress bar offers visual reinforcement for your customers to complete their purchase because they see how much time and effort they’ve invested in the checkout.
Start a Rewards Program: A rewards program can encourage customers to spend more money. Reward programs can lead to customers buying more of your products; they also tend to buy more expensive, premium versions of the same items they previously bought from another retailer.
Use Live Chat: You can use live chat to help your customers with orders and provide customer support. While speaking to the customer, you can use real-time data such as products viewed, what’s in their cart, and past orders to customize your messaging, recommend products, and offer discounts.
Offer Multiple Payment Options: Not providing enough payment methods is a top reason for cart abandonment. Offering multiple payment choices helps you increase the likelihood of customers finishing their purchases.
Run Retargeting Ads: Many customers don’t buy the first time they’re shopping on your site. Retargeting ads are shown to people who leave items behind in their cart to entice them to come back and finish their purchase.