Abandoned shopping carts are a major headache for eCommerce businesses. They cause eCommerce businesses to lose $18 Billion in sales revenue every year. Approximately 7 out of 10 shoppers abandon their carts. The statistics are common among all sectors but affect eCommerce businesses the most in terms of revenue. To understand how the eCommerce cart abandonment rate can be decreased, its main reasons need to be understood. You will also find actionable tips to optimize each area of your site to reduce abandonments.
What is Cart Abandonment?
eCommerce cart abandonment occurs when a shopper places items in their online shopping cart but leaves the website before completing the purchase. It refers to the instance where a customer adds products to their cart with the intent to buy, but for some reason abandons the checkout process and leaves the site before finalizing the transaction.
How to Calculate Your Cart Abandonment Rate?
Calculating your cart abandonment rate is an important first step to understanding the scope of the problem for your eCommerce business.
The formula is simple:
Abandonment Rate = Abandoned Carts / Total Carts
To find your total number of abandoned carts, look at your analytics for the number of visits that reached your checkout page but did not complete a purchase.
Your total number of carts is all visits that reached your checkout page, both completed and abandoned.
For example, if you had 100 visits reach checkout but only 50 made a purchase, you would have:
Abandonment Rate = 50 / 100 = 50%
The average online cart abandonment rate varies significantly by industry. For example, the average rate for the fashion industry is 72%, while for office technology it’s just 52%.
Knowing your abandonment rate compared to your industry benchmark is important. If your rate is well above average, it signals there are likely issues in your checkout process or site experience leading visitors to abandon their carts.
Analyzing your abandonment rate over time is also useful to see the impact of changes you make, like optimizations to your checkout flow. A declining rate means your efforts are working.
6 Main Reasons for eCommerce Cart Abandonment
A high cart abandonment rate often indicates issues in the buying process that cause customers to leave before completing their purchase.
Here are 6 of the top reasons shoppers abandon their carts:
1. High shipping costs
Unexpectedly high shipping fees at checkout are a major cause of abandoned carts. Research shows that 55% of shoppers have abandoned a cart due to high shipping costs. To reduce cart abandonment, be upfront about shipping fees, offer free shipping thresholds, and consider absorbing costs or offering flat-rate shipping.
Read Also: How to deal with Common Shipping Problems in 2024?
2. Extra fees/taxes added at checkout
Another checkout surprise that leads to abandoned carts is extra fees or taxes added at the last step. Make sure to inform customers upfront of all charges they will incur to avoid sticker shock when they go to finalize the purchase.
3. Complicated checkout process
A lengthy or confusing checkout process will cause customers to give up before completing their order. Simplify the checkout as much as possible by limiting form fields, offering guest checkout, and allowing shoppers to check out directly from the cart page.
4. Lack of payment options
Not offering the preferred payment methods of your customers is another cart killer. Providing multiple payment options like PayPal, Apple Pay and credit cards increases the chances shoppers will complete their purchase.
5. No guest checkout
Requiring customers to create an account to check out results in abandonment. Allow guest checkout to remove friction from the buying process. You can still collect email addresses to retarget later.
6. Site errors
Buggy sites are a huge contributor to shopping cart abandonment. Fix site errors like broken links and pages as well as checkout errors immediately. Rigorously tested to ensure a seamless site experience.
How to Optimise the Checkout Process?
One of the top reasons for cart abandonment is a difficult or frustrating checkout process. There are several ways to optimize your checkout flow to reduce abandonment:
1. Offer free shipping or discounts
Providing free shipping or a discount code for completing the purchase can incentivize customers to follow through rather than abandon their carts. Consider offering free shipping on orders over a certain amount or giving a percentage discount on their purchase during checkout.
2. Be transparent about fees/taxes
Surprise costs or fees at checkout are a huge source of frustration. Be upfront about all taxes, shipping costs, and any additional fees from the start of the purchasing journey. Providing an accurate total cost estimate as early as possible prevents sticker shock at checkout.
3. Simplify checkout process
The checkout process should be as short and seamless as possible. Reduce the number of fields and pages customers need to fill out. Auto-fill forms with information the customer already provided. Don’t make them re-enter anything unnecessarily.
4. Offer multiple payment options
Give customers payment flexibility by offering options like PayPal, Apple Pay, bank transfer, credit card payments, and installment plans. The more choices you provide, the more likely customers will find an option they feel comfortable with.
5. Allow guest checkout
Forcing customers to create an account to complete a purchase is a common abandonment point. Allow guest checkouts to remove friction from the process. You can always give them the option to create an account after checkout.
6. Improve site speed and stability
Slow load times or site crashes during checkout will quickly drive customers away. Optimise pages for speed and test checkout thoroughly for any bugs or issues. Stability and speed instill confidence in customers to complete their purchases.
Follow Up with Abandoned Carts
Following up with customers who abandon their carts is crucial for recovering lost sales. According to research, emailing abandoned cart reminders can result in over 20% of shoppers returning to complete their purchases. Here are some tips for effective abandoned cart follow-up:
1. Send Email Reminders to Complete Purchase
Set up automated abandoned cart emails to go out after a customer leaves items unpurchased. The first email should go out within a few hours after they abandon when they’re most likely to still convert. Offer an incentive like free shipping or a discount code to entice them back. Continue sending reminder emails for several days. Segment your list so high-value customers get an additional follow-up.
2. Offer Incentives to Come Back
Provide an irresistible offer like 10-15% off or free shipping to incentivize customers to return and complete their checkout. You can also offer bundled pricing on abandoned items. Make the discount code unique to each customer and applicable only to their cart so they have to return to your site to redeem it. Time limits the offer to create urgency.
How ShipTop Helps Reduce Abandonment?
ShipTop is dedicated to helping eCommerce businesses reduce their cart abandonment rates through our ultra-fast fulfillment and integrated technology.
1. Ultra-Fast Fulfilment Reduces Delivery Times
One of the top reasons for cart abandonment is long or uncertain delivery times. ShipTop operates a network of strategically located warehouses in Vancouver, Toronto and the United States to provide 1-2 day ground shipping to most areas in Canada. Our advanced warehouse management systems and automation ensure we can pick, pack, and ship orders extremely quickly.
By partnering with ShipTop, our merchants can confidently advertise quick delivery times to their customers. This helps increase conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment from shoppers concerned about when they will receive their purchases.
2. Reliable Shipping Services
ShipTop leverages a combination of shipping services to provide reliable and affordable shipping solutions, ensuring that customers feel confident in completing their purchases.
3. Efficient Fulfillment Even During Peak Seasons
ShipTop ensures timely order processing and shipment, even during peak seasons. While non-peak times promise same-day shipping for all standard orders received by 12 PM local warehouse time, during peak seasons, orders are shipped within 2 – 3 business days. This reliability ensures that customers receive their orders promptly, mitigating the risk of cart abandonment due to lengthy wait times.
Wrapping Up
To increase your bottom line, decreasing cart abandonment rates can be immensely helpful. Online retailers must take steps to optimize the checkout process, follow up with customers, provide reassurance, and remove friction points. A few percentage points reduction in your cart abandonment rate can translate into significant revenue gains.
Focus on understanding why customers abandon their carts on your site specifically. Collect feedback, analyze your analytics, and test changes to improve conversion. With persistence and creativity, you can chip away at the problem.
The team at ShipTop is ready to help. Our fulfillment and shipping solutions are designed to support eCommerce merchants in reducing cart abandonment and driving more sales. Reach out to find out how we can optimize your post-purchase customer experience.