E-commerce website owners typically have an opportunity to drastically increase the amount of money that they are making through the website by focusing on reduced abandoned carts. Many online shoppers will place an item in their shopping cart and then leave the site before purchasing. If they wanted the item to start with something must have discouraged them from the purchase. But what was it?
One of the reasons that shoppers commonly abandon carts is that online shopping is easy and convenient. Likewise, it's also easy and convenient to move on to the next site and look for something else. Here we will look at the most common reasons that shoppers change their mind.
1. Unpleasant surprises
Shoppers hate to be surprised by hidden fees or details that they did not expect. If they put an item into their shopping cart with certain assumptions and then they are surprised by something during the checkout process, they are likely to abandon the cart.
2. Shipping Costs and Taxes
Although there is nothing you can do about the amount of tax that must be charged, there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of sales that are lost due to shipping charges. No buyer wants to pay for shipping, but it's often a mystery what the shipping charges will be until the checkout process. Give your shoppers a way to know (at least approximately) what they will be charged for shipping before they get to the end of the checkout.
3. Complicated Processes
Online shoppers prefer shopping online because of its convenience and speed. If a checkout process is cumbersome or confusing, the benefits of shopping from your site are minimal. Cut out any unnecessary steps and do whatever you can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.
4. They decide to shop around
The internet is great for comparison shopping, which means some of your would-be buyers may decide to put off the purchase while they look around a little bit. This can be a difficult challenge to overcome. One method is to offer a low price guarantee where you will refund the price difference if they find it cheaper somewhere else.
5. Not all the products they want are available
Sometimes a person who is making an online purchase will want to buy a few things at one time to save some money on shipping rather than buying several items one at a time. If your e-commerce site does not offer all of the items that they want to buy, or if something is out of stock, they may decide to move on to another online shop where they can get everything they want.
6. Buyer's remorse, second thoughts
Buyers may have second thoughts about an item and decide not to purchase it. It's so easy to add an item to an online shopping cart that people often do so without really thinking about the purchase that they are about to make.
7. Confusion
If a shopper is unsure about what they are supposed to do during the checkout process they will likely leave the site. Keep the checkout process as simple and clear as possible and provide help and answers to common questions for those who might get stuck.
8. Lack of payment options
Think about how your typical customer will want to pay for their purchases online. There are a number of different options but you need to make sure that you are catering to the shoppers as much as possible to avoid lost sales. For example, if you only accept one or two types of credit card you will likely lose some sales.
One of the reasons that shoppers commonly abandon carts is that online shopping is easy and convenient. Likewise, it's also easy and convenient to move on to the next site and look for something else. Here we will look at the most common reasons that shoppers change their mind.
1. Unpleasant surprises
Shoppers hate to be surprised by hidden fees or details that they did not expect. If they put an item into their shopping cart with certain assumptions and then they are surprised by something during the checkout process, they are likely to abandon the cart.
2. Shipping Costs and Taxes
Although there is nothing you can do about the amount of tax that must be charged, there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of sales that are lost due to shipping charges. No buyer wants to pay for shipping, but it's often a mystery what the shipping charges will be until the checkout process. Give your shoppers a way to know (at least approximately) what they will be charged for shipping before they get to the end of the checkout.
3. Complicated Processes
Online shoppers prefer shopping online because of its convenience and speed. If a checkout process is cumbersome or confusing, the benefits of shopping from your site are minimal. Cut out any unnecessary steps and do whatever you can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.
4. They decide to shop around
The internet is great for comparison shopping, which means some of your would-be buyers may decide to put off the purchase while they look around a little bit. This can be a difficult challenge to overcome. One method is to offer a low price guarantee where you will refund the price difference if they find it cheaper somewhere else.
5. Not all the products they want are available
Sometimes a person who is making an online purchase will want to buy a few things at one time to save some money on shipping rather than buying several items one at a time. If your e-commerce site does not offer all of the items that they want to buy, or if something is out of stock, they may decide to move on to another online shop where they can get everything they want.
6. Buyer's remorse, second thoughts
Buyers may have second thoughts about an item and decide not to purchase it. It's so easy to add an item to an online shopping cart that people often do so without really thinking about the purchase that they are about to make.
7. Confusion
If a shopper is unsure about what they are supposed to do during the checkout process they will likely leave the site. Keep the checkout process as simple and clear as possible and provide help and answers to common questions for those who might get stuck.
8. Lack of payment options
Think about how your typical customer will want to pay for their purchases online. There are a number of different options but you need to make sure that you are catering to the shoppers as much as possible to avoid lost sales. For example, if you only accept one or two types of credit card you will likely lose some sales.
About the Author:
Steven Snell is an ecommerce designer. In addition to his work for clients, he also runs a gallery that provides e-commerce design inspiration.
