The growth rate of eCommerce in 2020 was an astonishing 25.4%. Over 2 billion people had purchased goods or services online and spent more than $4.2 trillion. And the expectation is, online shopping will only get bigger in the upcoming years. But while more and more consumers are opening up to the idea of shopping on the internet (thanks to the pandemic), data shows that there’s still a lot of work cut out for online retailers. Most notably in reducing cart abandonment rates. According to research conducted by Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate for eCommerce falls at 69.80%.
Fortunately, there are a few excellent tactics you can implement to reduce cart abandonment in your store. The following five are the top ones to try out.
Take Shoppers Directly to Their Carts
Avoid shoppers getting distracted by the act of browsing and remind them why they’re actually on your website by navigating them directly to the place where they trigger the purchase.
Future Kind takes this approach with all actions taken on their collections page. Whenever a shopper adds an item to their cart from this part of the site, they’re instantly taken to a screen where they can either buy their item, or click on a “continue shopping” link.
Source: Futurekind.com
Bear in mind that this could have a negative impact on your average order value (AOV). This approach isn’t recommended for stores that thrive on shoppers adding multiple items to their carts before going through with the transaction.
Put a CTA in Your Checkout Confirmation
Many online stores respond to shoppers adding an item to their carts simply by updating the cart icon to show that it now contains one more product. This was to encourage shoppers to continue browsing and not interrupt their shopping experience.
Recently, eCommerce UX designers have started to enhance the “item added to your cart” confirmation with a popup or flyout that contains a prominent “proceed to cart” call to action.
This keeps shoppers engaged with the browsing experience while also giving them a not-so-subtle reminder that they can actually buy the item they just put in their cart.
Here’s an example from Orizaba Original. Note how the UI element strikes the perfect balance between being noticeable but not annoyingly obtrusive.
Source: Orizabaoriginal.com
Offer Express Checkout
Another easy hack you can implement is to make the payment process more user-friendly with express checkout.
In 2020, for example, the share of digital and mobile wallet payments accounted for 44.5% of online transactions worldwide. Knowing this, brands can offer express checkout with these payment methods and use them as a combination of social proof and a shopping incentive for people after a quick and easy buying experience.
A great way to do this is to follow the example of SomniFix. This brand positions express checkout in the most prominent spot of its cart, allowing visitors to complete their purchase with a press of a button. They don’t even have to bother with details like typing in their address or contact information.
Source: Somnifix.com
Be Upfront About Shipping Costs
According to the Baymard Institute research quoted above, 49% of people abandon their carts because shipping costs and taxes are too high. And sure, most businesses can’t completely eliminate these costs without suffering a loss. But what any business can do is be transparent about them from the get-go.
Amazon offers an excellent example of how you can be upfront about all extra costs.
Source: Amazon.com
Of course, not all ecommerce stores have the necessary tech to immediately calculate shipping and fees. In that case, a banner like the one used by Shumi might be a valid alternative.
Source: Shumistore.com
Enable Guest Checkout
Lastly, re-considering the amount of data you ask from visitors could also help you reduce cart abandonment rates. For shoppers worldwide, privacy is a growing concern. Consequently, many people will choose not to complete a purchase if an online store requires them to create an account and provide personal data.
For this reason, it’s not a bad idea to consider enabling guest checkouts on your website, like Urban Outfitters does. By minimizing the amount of info you store and ask for, you can effectively reduce traction. In short, you’ll make shopping with you a less risky choice for your web visitors.
Source: Urbanoutfitters.com
In Closing
Any of the five strategies we’ve listed can help you reduce cart abandonment in your store. However, when a potential customer does leave your site before completing a transaction, don’t hesitate to implement these tactics for recovering abandoned carts.
