Your online shopping boutique has finally taken off. Your marketing campaign is on point and the website is gaining traction in terms of traffic. However, sales conversions are low. This doesn’t make sense because all of the proper processes are in place, including an awesome sales funnel. One of the reasons behind poor sales could be shoppers not willing to fully commit to a purchase. In most cases, this is shopping cart abandonment.

Shopping cart abandonment is one of the reasons why an online store loses out on sales. It is estimated that around 6 out of 10 customers who place store items into their cart never end up completing their purchase. Any store that can recover at least a portion of these missed out opportunities can easily boost its revenue.

Read on for more info on shopping cart abandonment and the reason behind why it exists and what you, as an online store owner, can do to combat this issue.

What is shopping cart abandonment?

Shopping cart abandonment takes place when a customer places items from an online store into their cart, only to leave the website without completing their purchase. Any product from a store that enters a shopping cart but never passes the checkout process is considered an abandoned product.

Cart abandonment is common amongst most online e-commerce stores. It is estimated that more than 60% of online shoppers with items in their cart do not complete the checkout process. This is a major concern for online merchants as they are unable to recover more than 25% of their potential sales. This makes shopping cart abandonment an important aspect of e-commerce that online store owners need to focus on.

The shopping cart abandonment rate is used to determine the percentage of viewers that visit an online store with the intent to buy something. This can be calculated by dividing a store’s successful sales by the total amount of cart entries.

What are the causes of shopping cart abandonment?

The reason behind a customer not being able to complete a purchase differs. It could be related to the actual store. It may even be something small such as timing.

It is important to understand some of the reasons behind cart abandonment before you can start asking your customers to come back.

Payment options

People who shop online love to have as many options available to them as possible. As an online store, you should never just settle for one payment method. Add additional methods such as bank deposits, transfers, and PayPal.

Some customers may receive cash from a relative and will want to deposit that money directly into your account. Many people out there receive payment for services via PayPal. These are the sort of people who will appreciate your store hosting these payment options.

Accepting payments through various rewards programs in your location is also beneficial to both the customer and the store.

Just looking

There are plenty of online shoppers who are just simply “window shopping”. These kinds of customers have low buying intent. Some customers place items in their carts with the hope of a future price drop.

Lack of trust

It’s very common for people not to trust online stores enough to share their credit card details. Especially if your store is not an established brand. It can be very difficult to sway some people. It’s best to keep promoting reviews and testimonials on your website.

Too expensive

One of the big reasons for customers opting for online shopping over physical stores is the fact that it is possible to find some amazing deals. Marking up products to prices similar or even higher than traditional stores can be of inconvenience to shoppers.

It will actually be easier for them to go directly to the store around the corner than to wait for your store to deliver a product.

What can you do about shopping cart abandonment?

It is important that your store satisfies your target audience as best as it can. A store needs to meet the needs of its customers. Not just by offering the right products, but also by efficiently delivering those products and services.

A store should try and meet all of the criteria mentioned above. This alone will give an online store’s visitors little to no reason to abandon their carts. However, this doesn’t mean that there will be no abandoned carts at all.

Abandoned carts are unfortunately here to stay and will always be a part of e-commerce in general. People will always display questionable behaviour in regards to completing the checkout process. This is why online stores should consider making use of abandoned cart software.

What is abandoned cart software?

Abandoned cart software is used to assist stores in getting back customers who may still have items in their online shopping cart. This is done by automatically sending out emails to these customers to kindly notify them about the items that they are interested in.

Abandoned cart software is designed to help online stores recover some of the potential sales that it may have missed out on. Sending out emails to these customers may not seem like such a major task, but it still is a highly effective way of reminding customers to take action by completing a purchase that might have just been interrupted.

Such software is developed by people with years of experience in marketing. The emails that are sent out to customers are fully responsive and optimised to inhibit some form of response from the recipient.

The purpose of this strategy is to help persuade customers to revisit an online store. This means that abandoned cart software can also aid in boosting a stores traffic.

Should your store install abandoned cart software?

Most customers appreciate this service as they see it as not only a kind gesture but as an initiative taken by the seller. Those who may have initially been discouraged to proceed to checkout may now feel a bit more inclined towards finalising their purchase.

Abandoned cart software also comes with additional features such as analytics and follow up emails that are suited for different time zones worldwide. Installation is usually quick and simple, especially if your online store is based on the Shopify platform.

So to recap, a piece of software that can manage potential lost sales with the hope of capturing and managing them. This alone makes abandoned cart software a must.