For website owners that are looking to increase profits by selling more products to visitors, there is one particular area that should receive plenty of attention. Most e-commerce sites lose out on a lot of revenue because shoppers commonly abandon their carts after placing items in them to be purchased. What caused them to change their mind?
Abandoned carts are very common because it’s easy to shop online, and buyers often have second thoughts and decide to not make the purchase after all. In this article we’ll look at some ways that you can reduce the likelihood of shoppers to change their mind after adding an item to the cart.
1. Unpleasant surprises
One of the biggest contributing factors to lost sales through abandoned carts is that something unexpected happened, or fees were added to the price that were not expected. When a buyer chooses to make a purchase, he or she is basing that decision on the information they have at that time. When other factors come into play later, they’re not likely to respond favorably.
2. High shipping charges and taxes
As a business owner you don’t have control over the taxes that you must charge, but be aware that shipping and taxes are frequently a deterrent to online shoppers. Buyers like to know what these costs will amount to before they get too far into the purchasing process. Shipping charges can vary greatly, so keep them as reasonable as possible and make it clear to would-be buyers.
3. The process takes too long
If there are too many steps in the checkout process or too much information is required, the buyer may choose to leave simply because it is taking too long. Cutting down the number of steps and streamlining the process can make a really big difference in the experience for the user, and ultimately in sales.
4. They decide to shop around
Many online shoppers will place an item in their cart, then decide that they should probably do some comparative shopping before making a purchase. The internet makes this very easy, so there is only so much you can do. First, you could offer a low price or price match guarantee. Second, by making the process quick you can give them less time for second thoughts.
5. Missing products
Because almost all items that are bought online will require some kind of shipping charges, many buyers will prefer to bundle their purchases so that they are getting multiple items at once, rather than paying for shipping several different times. If this is the case, they may abandon their cart if some of the products that they want are not available at your site. This could apply to products that you do not carry or that are out of stock.
6. Buyer’s remore
One of the most common causes of abandoned carts is just the buyer having second thoughts about the purchase. This is especially common with high-priced items.
7. Confusion
It’s not uncommon for a shopper to abandon their cart because they are not sure what to do or because they do not feel comfortable with the process. This used to be more common than it is now as a high percentage of people shop online, but you will still want to make the checkout process as simple as possible so there is no reason to be confused.
8. Inflexible payment options
There are a lot of different ways to accept money online. However, this is something that you should give a lot of thought to because some of your visitors will have a preferred method of payment and if it is not accepted at your site they will go somewhere else.
Steven Snell is a web designer and has experience with e-commerce website design. He runs CartFrenzy, a gallery that showcases the best e-commerce websites.
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