3 Reasons Why Customers Abandon Shopping Carts Online

Confessions of a Customer: “Why I usually abandon my cart”

Last Friday, while having dinner with my girlfriends, I unveiled the reasons behind the most common problem of 2015. In between sipping Margaritas and gossipping like the good old days, our smartphones were constantly buzzing and making annoying noises of message/push notifications. Out of frustration, one of my girlfriends frowned and cursed her phone before putting it on silent and dumping it inside her bag. Out of concern, I asked her, “Is it your over-possessive boyfriend?”; to which she replied, “I wish! It is my over-possessive mobile shopping app.”

And then the conversation glided towards how we all are addicted to e-shopping, and have at least two items eagerly waiting for us at the checkout page. And we have yet to press the ‘Proceed’ button and make the final payment. I asked each of them, “why do you abandon your shopping cart, and why do you not purchase straight away?”. This is what each of them had to say….

Reason #1 – “I’m sure I’ll get a better offer on another app/website”

The fear of opportunity cost and eagerness to save those few extra bucks often distract customers and keep them from making the final purchase. And (sadly!) you cannot blame them. The Ecommerce marketplace is competitive, transparent and easily accessible. According to Statista, 36% of customers abandon their cart because they ‘find a better price somewhere else’. Today’s customer is empowered to check a product on your site and compare the price/brand/availability/etc on your competitor’s site, all at the same time. And if they are saving,  even pennies on the latter, they won’t think twice before switching. Brand loyalty is something which is becoming harder and harder to cling onto for retailers.

Also Read: Best Practices in User Engagement for Online Marketplaces

Solution: Leave Intent Targeted Push Notifications.

This solution is ideal for those looking to maximize cart conversion that have the ability to entice customers with a promotion or other message to hook them back into the sale. As soon as the user’s mouse cursor moves towards the exit/back button, a pre-configured pop-up notification offering attractive discounts and coupon code can appear, to lure the customer to stay and reconsider the abandoned cart. You can find out more about it in this video.

Reason #2 – “I have trust issues”

Most of the online buyers often find themselves being skeptical about the virtual and actual product, mixed with the apprehension of making online payments. Moreover, meeting unexpected (and much detested) undisclosed overhead expenses like taxes and shipping costs at the point of final checkout doesn’t help the case either. This was further validated by Statista’s survey, which showed 56% customers ditching the cart because of ‘unexpected costs’.  Another factor which results in a drop in confidence is when customers are not given sufficient information to inform and support them to complete the sale.

Solution: Clear trust messaging  

To build trust among customers and avoid being perceived as a fly-by-night company, clearly highlight transaction and personal data security tools like Norton Security, RapidSSL, etc. Provide sufficient information about the product to the customer including delivery and returns, with comprehensive description and images. Don’t wait for your customer to discover extra costs at the final stages of checkout and clearly mention what and why they are paying the minute they add an item to the shopping cart. This will give time to the customer to digest the information before checking out, which should simply be to complete payment.

Reason #3 – “Checkouts can be complicated and time-consuming”

We often forget the simple fact that not everybody is tech savvy or well-versed with online shopping. Highly complicated UI/UX of the checkout page might confuse users and discourage them to proceed with the purchase. Forcing users to register before purchase can also result in drop-outs at the last stage, in particular on mobile where the screen real-estate often requires trade-offs.

Solution: Keep it Simple, Silly (aka the KISS approach)  

Remove all the unnecessary fields and text, and only ask for  the information which will help the customer through a smooth checkout process. You can provide additional services like Live Chat or Feedback buttons to get first-hand information about your customers’ checkout experience.

The issue of cart abandonment can easily be tackled by introducing a few fundamental changes to your website. These crucial yet easy implementations can bring a positive impact on the whole online shopping experience to your customers. They will not only be able to enjoy a quick and seamless checkout, but also foster trust on your brand.

And so I thought of the 3 friends that inspired me to write this article and wonder if next time they think of buying online, their retail experience will be that much better. I hope so.

Bonus Read – Ramping Up Customer Retention in E-commerce? Fix Customer Abandonment First