A lot of shopping carts do not see life beyond the “checkout” button. Although the stats on cart abandonment may vary, the numbers are usually between 60-75%. If you want your e-commerce to recover just a tiny fraction of these abandoned carts, then you can boost your site revenues by a large margin. To do this, you need to analyze first why they are abandoning their carts in the first place. This rarely happens if you are in a physical store. Customers do not just suddenly leave their carts and head for the exit, right? So, why does it not work the same way in an e-commerce environment? In this post, I will walk you through the nine reasons why your customers leave your e-commerce site and what you can do to prevent it.
High and Surprise Extra Costs
Here’s the thing: not a lot of people like surprise costs. They might probably make a little bit of comparison with other e-commerce sites out there. Then, they see a competitive price on your product page. They decide to go ahead and click on the add-to-cart button. However, on the next page, they might see that you may be charging a lot for shipping fees or that the prices on your product page are without VAT. Usually, these are enough reasons to stop them in their tracks. They’ll probably go back to other websites and then compare the total prices, including all those extra fees. There’s also a likelihood that even if your all-in price is the same as your competitors, they probably won’t come back to your site. Regardless, you need to find a way to make your product and pricing stand out.
Long and Complicated Checkout Process
A lot of online shoppers may also abandon their carts because the entire checkout process is too complicated. Many e-commerce stores may risk losing their customers because the checkout process was too cumbersome for them. Now, the best thing to do about this is to use this KISS approach. This usually covers many areas for creating a seamless checkout experience and is often the best advice I can give.
At best, you should try to trim your checkout process down into four simple steps:
- Checkout
- Delivery details
- Payment details
- Confirmation
If your site requires more, then you need to adjust it. You might also consider placing a visual progress indicator on the entire checkout page. That way, your customers would know how long they are in the process before they get things done.
Requiring Account Creation
Many e-commerce sites may require customers to create accounts early on. This explains why 35% of customers leave without purchasing anything from your online store. To make checkout less cumbersome for your customers, consider letting them create an account using social media. Another option is to let them checkout as guests.
For one, it will be easier for them to buy your products. That’s because not everyone has the time to fill out a signup form. Second, customers want to limit the amount of information they have to share. After all, the most critical data needed in an e-commerce site is customer name, delivery address, and proof of payment. That’s why you should give shoppers enough time to decide what kind of products or add-ons they want in the ecommerce shopping cart. Then, that’s when you provide them with the option to make an account or checkout as guests.
Lack of Payment Options
There are plenty of credit and debit card companies out there. There are also a lot of payment methods that people can use to make online payments. While many customers want to purchase certain products, many of them are forced to abandon these carts. That’s because the e-commerce site doesn’t provide them with their preferred or available method of payment.
Security Concerns
Customers expect that their credit card details and other sensitive data are stored safely. This includes secured payment processing. The best solution is strictly following the PCI compliance guidelines about storing and validating credit card transactions. It will also help if you have a robust fraud management system. That way, you can quickly detect and prevent fraudulent transactions in your online store. Finally, it would be best to show trust seals and signals so that your customers will know that the information they give is secured.
Slow Delivery and Limited Shipping Options
Delivery should be the primary component of the whole e-commerce experience. That’s because customers expect that these shipping options can fit their needs and be delivered on time. The best solution to address this problem is to provide your customers with a variety of shipping options. Allow them to customize their shipping details by personalizing their delivery times. You can also let them choose their shipping service providers.
Lack of Customer Support
A lack of or poor customer support can hurt your shopping cart abandonment rates. That’s because your customers expect service and convenience from you.
According to a study that LivePerson does, 83% of online shoppers need help while they’re on your website. In fact, 51% say that they’re more likely to purchase if there are customer support options such as live chat. If you are looking for ways to provide a supportive shopping experience, you can always experiment. An example would be live chat support or a 30-day free shipping option. Afterward, see if there’s any improvement in sales.
Unsatisfactory Return Policy
Data shows that 66% of shoppers are saying that they are willing to spend more if the e-commerce store they’re buying from has a generous return policy. However, unfortunately, a lot of online stores have hard limits on returns. Some policies may charge customers for the return, usually in the form of shopping.
Technical Problems
Customers have also left the checkout process because the website had errors or had crashed in one way or another. This isn’t something that should happen regularly. Make sure that you thoroughly check your site for any technical problems.
First and foremost, make sure that it looks great and works in every browser and device. Make sure that you identify any errors or any weak points. Also, try to analyze the performance of your e-commerce website. This includes doing an A/B test of your checkout page, page load speed, and mobile responsiveness.
Final Thoughts
If you’re concerned with high cart abandonment rates, then you should consider this list. That way, you can figure out how you can salvage those abandoned carts and boost your sales. Nonetheless, the key here is simple. Always consider what will make it easy for your customers to proceed to checkout.
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- Why Checkout Fails: 9 Reasons Customers Leave Your E-commerce Website - September 14, 2021
