The busiest time of year for a lot of retailers is gradually approaching. Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the ‘C’ word (Christmas!) are all great opportunities to generate those sales that you’ve been longing for. The ideal situation would be for one of your consumers to see something they like, add it to their basket and then make a purchase. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, sometimes it’s not that’s easy. Some consumers will do all but the last step, making the purchase. How do we avoid the risk of cart abandonment and win back those potential purchases?
New research from Big Commerce and Retail Dive reveals the proven strategies to boost your conversions. According to their research, 39% of consumers prefer shopping online, whilst 29% of consumer prefer shopping in-person. That could mean a lot of purchases for your eCommerce business! As well as this, 77% of shoppers make online purchases more than once per month. But 74% have abandoned their carts within the last month. Why is this? What can you do to avoid this and to encourage your consumers to press that coveted ‘purchase’ button?
Quick links:
- Why are consumers abandoning carts?
- Prices matter when consumers choose where to buy
- What can retailers do about it?
- How can we help?
Why are consumers abandoning carts?
Before we try to think of a resolution, it’s important to consider what is making your consumers leave their carts. This new research reveals the main 6 reasons:
- 41% were just browsing
- 26% found shipping fees too high
- 11% found cheaper shipping elsewhere
- 39% changed their minds
- 14% found a lower product price elsewhere
- 10% found a more desirable product elsewhere
As a whole, consumers want a quick, problem free checkout experience when shopping online. Thankfully, these problems can easily be avoided.
Prices matter when consumers choose where to buy.
Remember the prices of your products or services compared to your competitors. This research shows that 95% of online shoppers say that they compare prices between competitors for the same items when shopping online. With all the information available literally at the tips of their fingers, consumers still engage in product comparisons to make their purchase decisions. The main way consumers compare prices to make purchase decisions includes asking friends or family for recommendations. To tap into this consumer pool, businesses need to work on their customer satisfaction so that consumers recommend them through word of mouth. This is probably the most reliable channel for marketing. To get consumers talking about your product, you have to show them the value that your product delivers to users. Even with that, some people still need some sort of gratification in the initial phase. A solid referral program that benefits both the referee and the referrer can go a long way in word-of-mouth marketing.
Another way would be via google searches. Many consumers simply Google the product they want to buy and research it on the various websites offering that product. They will likely purchase it from the site that offers the best deal.
Price comparison apps are another way that consumers choose where to buy. Along with comparison shopping websites, numerous comparison-shopping apps have emerged, including ShopSavvy, ShopMania, etc. Many mobile-first consumers use this option for convenience. Be sure your site is optimised for Google and Google Shopping.
What can retailers do about it?
Now we know what drives consumers to leave their baskets, how they compare the prices of their products and why, how can you avoid this issue within your business?
According to this research, customers don’t want the checkout experience to be confusing and take up a lot of time. A way to achieve this is by removing barriers to conversion by making checkout simple. Make sure to implement one-page checkout and credit card vaulting and place buy buttons on product detail pages.
Secondly, test out conversion-driving promotions. Make sure to offer current-order discounts and percentage-off-your-next-order opportunities, this would result in occurring customers and reliable consumers. Another aspect to consider is to reduce free shipping thresholds and/or market free shipping. This would encourage consumers to go ahead with the purchase as this can sometimes be a hurdle and a reason for people to not go ahead with a purchase. Also, 81% of shoppers report that free shipping is the most appealing promotion when making a purchase online.
Another aspect to implement to avoid cart abandonment is to improve your brand-consumer connection. Allowing your consumer to have a great unboxing experience will encourage a repurchase. Why not try throwing in a free sample of a product? By making the experience more memorable would mean the consumers would more likely repurchase to re-live that experience again. Offer variety, quality, and convenience to shoppers to drive repeat purchases.
Finally, give consumers choice when shopping on your website. Consumers like to feel in control and to make decisions themselves, so try offering a by now, pay later option and buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) for your customers. Having more than one option to receive their purchase would appeal to a larger target market as they can choose an option that works for them. It also makes your business stand out compared to your competitors if you offer a way to shop that your competitors don’t. 43%+ increase in BOPIS usage compared to the previous year. This highlights the importance of providing BOPIS as an option for your customers.
How can we help?
Winning back your abandoned carts will be a game changer for your ecommerce website. The strategies that we’ve discussed, provided by Big Commerce and Retail Dive, are proven to boost your conversion rates and keep those purchases coming. We have helped many businesses improve their user experience and change the way consumers shop their ecommerce website, including the reduction of cart abandonment. Get in contact with a member of our team to find out how we can encourage your consumers to press that big, green ‘pay’ button!
