According to Baymard Institute’s latest research, approximately $260 billion can be recovered annually from lost online e-commerce sales and abandoned carts. Most carts are abandoned simply because customers are just “window shopping” and aren’t ready to purchase anything yet, but there are many other factors that contribute to carts being abandoned.
Read the tips below to see how you can decrease the number of carts your customers abandon. Also look into working with an e-commerce developer to help you get the best results.
Be Clear About Taxes and Shipping Costs Upfront
Over sixty percent of customers abandon carts during the checkout process because they encounter hidden fees as they finalize their orders, and the final costs of their orders are not what they had expected. It’s important to include all costs up front, including shipping costs and applicable taxes. If possible, insert a tax calculator within each customer’s cart.
If you can, offer free shipping and then advertise that you offer it all over your site and checkout pages. Customers are much more likely to buy from you online if they don’t have to pay shipping costs.
Include Trust logos for your site's 3rd party security applications
Many customers won’t complete their orders because they don’t see trusted logos on your site or during checkout. Wherever applicable, include logos that prove they can trust you with their personal information and credit card information. Norton Secured, McAfee Secure, TRUSTe, BBB, and other recognizable logos will increase customer confidence.
Remember: if you're using a trust logo on your website without adopting the appropriate related protocols, it could cause negative sentiment from customers, and earn penalties from search engines and poor PPC quality scores. In other words, don't BS your users.
Photo credit: Whatissslcertificate.com
Offer Different Payment Options and Guest Checkout Options
In addition to credit card and PayPal options, you should offer Google Wallet or Apple Pay options, as well as any other payment options your customers use. Also, don’t force new customers to fill out a lot of information or register for your site if you can allow them to checkout as a guest.
Guest checkouts makes it easier for customers to focus on one thing at a time (placing their orders), and it decreases your abandoned cart rate. If you want your customers to register for your site or sign up for something, have them do so after they finalize their purchases, not before.
Optimize your site and improve load times
A high number of customers abandon their carts during checkout because the site they were on crashed or took too long to load and process their requests. Remember that customers will take their business elsewhere if it takes too long to buy something from your site.
Make sure your images don’t take too long to load and that any ad networks or unneeded social plugins aren’t slowing everything down. It’s also imperative that you optimize your site for mobile devices.
Make sure it's easy for customers to navigate between your shop and cart pages
If you want your customers to purchase multiple items and update their carts easily, then include a cart icon that allows them to update their carts at any time while they browse products. If it isn’t easy to toggle between your online store and their shopping carts, your customers may get frustrated and leave. Slide-out sidebar carts have become increasingly popular, but a cart icon in the header navigation is effective as well.
Allow Users to Save Carts and Wish Lists
Since a lot of customers are only “window shopping” when they’re on your site, let them save items to their carts or to a wish list. This way, they can easily return to the exact items they already know they want when they return to your site ready to buy. This will save them time because they won’t have to track down the items a second time. You can also send reminders to customers with wish lists and items saved in carts to encourage them to return to your site.
Highlight a Progress Indicator on Checkout Pages
It is ideal to have the least number of pages possible during your checkout process. However, if you need to have your customers fill out information on multiple pages, include a progress bar at the top of the page that highlights what page they’re on and how many more pages are left before they finalize their orders. You should also offer an express checkout or single-click options when possible, especially for frequent and repeat customers.
Use Thumbnail Images Throughout Entire Checkout Process
If your customers can see what exactly they’re ordering throughout the entire checkout process, wanted products will always remain visible to them and remain enticing. More importantly, including thumbnail images throughout the checkout process decreases the likelihood that a customer will accidentally purchase a wrong item, which is reassuring to them and you.
Make the overall purchasing process easy for your customers by optimizing the performance and usability of your site, highlighting costs up front, and including relevant information where it’s needed. By making your purchasing process easier, your customers will be far less likely to abandon their carts. Finding an e-commerce developer to help you get the most sales will be very beneficial for your business.
