As more consumers go online to shop, shopping cart abandonment is on the rise. And according to research, it’s simply becoming part of the consumer shopping process.
A new study found that 81% of online shoppers have left items in a cart and not completed the sale, according to ContentSquare. Cost issues were the most cited reason for abandoning a car (including shipping and extra fees). Seventy-four percent of respondents also reported the final price being too expensive or finding a better deal elsewhere.
Typically adding an item to the cart signals intent to buy. However, consumers are often using digital baskets as a bookmarking tool instead of a “save to favorites” button. Many shoppers often intentionally abandon the checkout process in an attempt to trigger a promotional email offer.
Mobile Adding to the Challenge
But industry experts are also seeing an increase in cart abandonment as more consumers use mobile devices for online purchases.
Cybba, a performance-driven technology solutions company, says mobile shopping and bad user experiences have contributed to an increase in cart abandonment. The company cites the growth of 5% to 8% over the last few years. The average abandonment rate on the desktop is around 74%. On mobile, it is above 80%, according to Cybba.
“Especially on mobile, shoppers do not have the patience for a long and painful checkout process,” Theresa Mock, Chief Operating Officer at Cybba, says. “Perhaps it is multiple steps for checkout, requiring seemingly unnecessary information, or unclear shipping details that turn a consumer off.”
Some research suggests that a 35% increase in conversions rates can be achieved by simplifying the checkout design. Based worldwide e-commerce sales (an estimated $750 billion by eMarketer) that gain translates to approximately $260 billion worth of lost orders. That lost revenue could be recoverable through better checkout flow and design.
Other Steps
In addition, Mock says there are other steps online retailers can take to reduce cart abandonment on mobile.
Retailers can deploy a mobile-friendly onsite engagement solution to re-engage the 80% plus of visitors that typically abandon on mobile devices. This means responsive mobile design, easy navigation and scrolling, and readable copy and clear calls to action for smaller screens.
Since these shoppers have added products to their cart, they are valuable high-intent customers. At the point of abandonment, retailers can show them promotional offers. Retailers can also use personalized messaging that entices them to stay and complete their purchase, she explained.
According to Wishpond, 72% of shoppers abandon their carts before completing the purchase. Website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70%t more likely to later convert on the retailer’s website.
Additionally, if a consumer has entered their email address, retailers can send them a remarketing email with a promotion and a reminder of their cart contents. Retailers can also use dynamic retargeting ads highlighting products of interest.
“By providing multiple remarketing touchpoints that drive the consumer to take action, you can recover abandoned sales and reap the benefits of an incremental 10-25% uplift in conversion,” Mock added.
Retargeting and remarketing can help ease abandonment problems. However, until more etailers streamline the checkout process for mobile, cart abandonment rates will continue to plague the space.