It’s a common online shopping scenario: a customer has everything they want added to their cart, and should be hitting the checkout button. But at the last minute, they don’t complete the purchase. According to a Baymard Institute research the average cart abandonment rate is over 69%, and that’s a lot of money!
It’s vital to understand the reasons that keep shoppers from buying from us.
Here are the most common culprits, as well as a way to avoid them:
1) The price of shipping is too high
According to Betaout, 61% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to cancel their entire purchase if free shipping isn’t offered. Many may look to your competitor.
Solution: If possible, offer free shipping once the shopper’s order reaches a certain price point. Not only will this lessen abandonment; it will also encourage shoppers to spend more in order to get free shipping.
2) There is no guest checkout option
Some shoppers may not have the time or patience to go through all the steps required to sign up for a website.
Solution: Offering guest checkout gives them the option to bypass the process. If they shop with your company often, odds are they will sign up for an account anyways, especially with an incentive like a rewards program. See how to enable checkout as a guest and increase conversions in NetSuite.
3) There are too many steps to checkout
Similarly, shoppers may not have the time or patience to go through a bunch of different screens to place an order. It’s always best to involve the least amount of pages and steps on checkout.
Solution: Create a simple, one page checkout process that is quick and easy for customers to use.
4) The customer gets up from their computer
Sometimes the customer may simply be distracted or get up from their computer before they have a chance to complete their purchase.
Solution: We agree with HubSpot when they say these customers “should be sent emails with an incentive, such as a discount code or free shipping”. These emails will remind customers about their purchase, as well as encourage them to continue with the purchase by offering incentives. Take a look at the cart recovery app from Bronto, which can send the user a custom message to encourage them to come back.
5) The checkout process is not compatible with mobile devices
More and more people have become much comfortable making a purchase with their smartphone, so having a mobile friendly checkout process is a MUST. You will not have this problem if you are using SuiteCommerce Advanced, for Site Builder keep reading…
Solution: If you are using Site Builder technology for your eCommerce, upgrade your checkout and my account to the Reference versions.
