Tackling the Abandoned Cart Epidemic

​There’s that lonely shopping cart in your virtual aisle, sitting untouched with some merchandise inside. This dilemma is easily rectified in brick-and-mortar stores, but for an ecommerce merchant, it means something different:  a missed opportunity.

Impulse shopping isn’t quite the same as the “Lookie-Lou” phenomenon, where site visitors save items they think they might buy. Though carts offer valuable ways for your customers to keep track of what catches their eye, they are easily abandoned when distractions arise. As a seller, you simply can’t afford to forfeit this chance to make a sale, so consider ways to leverage the technology.
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The stats tell a story. Web analytics indicate that “ghosted” carts represent a whopping 69.8 percent of online carts in existence. That is a boatload of missed sales.

One reason newbies might let items sit in your virtual cart? Reluctance to sign up for an account. We all know building an identified account roster is a win-win for both sellers and consumers, with easy options for a quick checkout, and the ability to target promotions. But not everyone is eager to divulge tracked info including email address, phone number, or even a name, to a vendor that they don’t know well. The answer is to provide a seamless guest checkout system. Offer clear opt-in choices to be “remembered” by your site even in the absence of a formal sign-up. A subtle trick like that can work wonders for skeptical buyers.
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Here are other ways to turn abandoned shopping carts into sales:

• Get the dough. Try to offer as many quality payment options as you can. There are a number of them, both established and relatively new. Each has options that may edge your buyer toward making the sale.
  
  
• Simplify the checkout process with a smooth flow of steps requiring only the necessary information needed to execute an order. Asking for tangential information may be an intriguing way to tap an algorithm you’ve set up, but from the buyer’s perspective, it’s probably too intrusive.
  
  
• Make it worthwhile. Offering promo codes and deals to even new buyers who don’t set up accounts adds value to their purchase and may well lock in a regular customer. Better yet, offer free shipping. The psychological effect of saving on delivery costs is demonstrably potent.
  
  
• Tell the truth. Are you aware of existing or potential shipping delays? Fulfillment is a critical component of your success as an ecommerce merchant; it can make or break return business. Buyers count on close or exact estimated dates of delivery. The trick, if you don’t really know how soon an order will arrive, is to spell it out in those terms, and possibly pointing buyers to alternative selections that might work.
  
  
• Return to Sender: Be blatantly honest. State very clearly your return/exchange/refund policy on as many site pages as possible. Confidence in a merchant’s willingness to accommodate changes of mind (at best) and correcting product deficiencies (at worst) might be the difference between not just repeat customers, but a dreaded reputation hit as shoppers tend to share their experiences with friends, family, and the internet overall.
  
  
• Keep up the pace. Customers are famous for making a solid commitment to choosing a vendor based on the ease of web site navigation. This shouldn’t be a surprise in an era where the need for speed reigns supreme. Invest in infrastructure to minimize slowdowns, or your next customer may time out and hop to a competitor.
  
  

Consult Constructor for more up-to-date tips on how to turn languishing carts into sales.

Photo by James Watson on Unsplash