Virtually all businesses that sell anything are developing or already using e-commerce websites or landing pages to sell their products online. Though the convenience of placing orders without leaving the comfort of your bedroom is remarkable, one practice of it has given many enterprises feet of clay.
The downside of e-commerce for merchants is shopping cart abandonment – when prospects drop out of the checkout process before making their purchase. The scenario is like when a customer walks into a department store, is about to make a purchase, and then gets a call to return to the office immediately. E-commerce business owners are constantly looking for solutions to shopping cart abandonment. The trend implies that shoppers are not pleased with some features of the online or mobile shopping experience. If you're looking for ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your e-commerce store, these eight strategies will help you out.
1. Develop a mobile app.
Reports have it that users interact with about 10 apps on their mobile devices on a daily basis. With the rise of e-commerce, users prefer shopping conveniently on mobile apps to the rigorous process of websites. To this end, your e-commerce mobile app should be user-friendly and easy to navigate. The app should be speedy, contents separated into their various categories and the general interface designed in a way that speaks to the user. This blog post will help you understand how to create an app for your e-commerce store.
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2. Keep carts visible.
Shopping carts should not be far from the user, whether they're shopping on a mobile app or the e-commerce website. Shoppers need to stay in the know of the items they have added to their list and the cost. E-commerce sites such as Amazon do a great job of this: The cart icon is positioned at the top with the number of items in it.
Visible carts and order costs keeps shoppers on track till orders are completed and helps them decide when they've added enough items (or cost) and should check out. This strategy reduces shopping cart abandonment because shoppers won't have to go back to check their cart, keeping the checkout in their sights.
3. Indicate shopping progress.
A first-timer to online shopping may be at a loss, especially when orders are to be validated. To this end, you should integrate a progress indicator to guide shoppers till the end of their checkout. A shopper can easily see how close they are to checkout so they don't give up.
The checkout process can be simplified by breaking it down into steps. For instance, shipping options and the shopper's details can be categorized into Shipping/Billing Method. The idea behind the progress report is to give shoppers a good view of their completed steps and last-mile actions to complete their purchase.
4. Allow guest checkout.
E-commerce stores often run digital campaigns to increase sales. Most data is extracted from user behaviors, so registration is often mandatory before checkouts can be made. This has been one of the problems that lead to shopping cart abandonment.
To solve this, registration should not be mandatory. Guest checkout should be enabled, allowing a shopper to go about their business without stopping to make an account. If you must require it, do so after checkout. The idea here is that shoppers should be allowed to shop and complete their orders without having an account on the site, or else they might just give up when you ask them to fill out a form and create a password before they can buy anything.
5. Offer a money-back guarantee.
Most shoppers are afraid of getting products different from what they ordered. There's also the concern that items might be defective or of low quality. The best method to retain trust is offering a money-back guarantee within a certain timeframe. Shoppers are always pleased with openings to return items they're not happy with and getting their funds back or using store credit to place another order. Thus, the money-back guarantee is a great strategy to prod users to complete their purchase.
6. Use a secure payment gateway.
Many users are reluctant to offer their personal details when filling out forms, not to mention their credit card numbers. This last-mile challenge had made many users back off from completing their orders.
The solution is using trusted payment channels that do not have access to users' details. Strive to partner with reputable payment gateways that can process cross-border transactions, because online retail should not be restricted to one region. Also integrate verification icons such as Verisign. Payment gateways should vary by user preference and include payment options that appeal to your target audience.
7. Enable cart saving.
Shoppers may not want to spend much time surfing e-commerce sites. Distractions are imminent, and a shopper will abandon their cart to watch the latest movie trailer. When they return to the site, the frustration of starting over again often keeps users from making the purchase.
You can solve this problem by allowing them to save their cart. Some shoppers are out for the best deals and flipping between multiple sites to find the lowest prices. Saving their carts and searches in their history allows them to come back and complete their orders after making comparisons.
Cart saving is mostly limited to registered users, but it should be extended to guests. Since guests don't have accounts, you can use cookies to give them access to their browsing history at their fingertips.
8. Create fear of missing out.
Shoppers often abandon their orders indefinitely without worry because there is no competition for the items. You can create scarcity to reduce shopping cart abandonment. Placing the remaining quantity of an item beside it increases chances of a sale, because a shopper might be scared that the item will be gone if they don't buy it now.
Users drop off their purchases for an avalanche of reasons. Improving the user experience by implementing these features is vital to boost sales. The checkout process is the soul of every e-commerce business, so yours needs to provide the great user experience that will prod them to click the order button.