eCommerce revenue is lost each year due to shopping cart abandonment, which accounts for an estimate of $4.6 trillion. An online shopper abandons their shopping cart (or basket) when they add items to their cart but leaves the site before they can complete the transaction. Overall industries, 75% of cart abandonments occur – that means 3 out of 4 visitors never become customers.
Considering the costs and efforts required to get people interested in your product or service in the first place, this represents a huge missed opportunity for eCommerce retailers. Investing in branding, content creation, social advertising, referral marketing, SEO, SEM, and optimisaing the user journey can be a bad investment if 75% of visitors don’t convert.
Once a customer leaves a basket, you can do nothing to prevent them from returning. However, several cart abandonment solutions and strategies can increase conversions from abandoned carts. The following nine cart abandonment solutions allow you to reclaim those lost sales and increase return on marketing investment.
1. Overlays With Exit-Intent
Exit-intent technology is a reliable method of preventing shopping cart abandonment. The sophisticated technology detects when visitors are on their way out and serves them a strategically timed overlay encouraging them to stay. In the example above, a timely message offering free shipping for purchases over a certain amount could save the purchase and increase the average order value if a customer has already reached the checkout page.
In the same vein, certain onsite activities may indicate that the customer is finding the best deal. A discount may be offered on the products they added if the exit-intent overlay appears.
2. Remarketing Via Email
A highly effective way of reminding customers to come back is to send them an email if they have put items in their cart but have not completed the checkout process. One of the most effective marketing tools is email, but customers expect more than just mass mailings. It will need to be deployed in a customized, relevant way to make the customer feel not spammed but looked after. Upon their return, you can formally welcome them and help them seamlessly retrace their steps.
3. Remarketing Via SMS
One study found that 95% of texts are read within three minutes of being sent. It suggests that SMS communications have an immediacy that emails may not have. It makes sense to target people’s attention while they may still be holding the device, they were shopping on to refocus their attention to completing the sale since more and more shopping is being done on mobile. You might want to implement SMS remarketing to remind customers that their shopping cart is waiting for them if mobile browsing and sales represent a large portion of your traffic.
4. Retargeting Advertisements
Are you aware that retargeting ads have a 76% higher probability of being clicked than standard display ads? As a result, it reminds what customers already want, rather than what they might want in the future. Moreover, retargeting ads have a 10X higher click-through rate than standard ads, with brand recognition and targeted content or offers to play a significant role here.
5. Chatbots or live chat services
Unless they can answer their questions or doubts, shoppers may hesitate and ultimately abandon the checkout process. It might be possible to make customers feel more at ease if you provide them with a live AI chat service rather than a 24/7 customer service facility. From welcome messages to lead generation to appointment settings, chatbots can be helpful throughout the customer service journey.
6. Trust Badges and Social Proof
A significant way to remove uncertainty, especially if a customer hesitates about a purchase – such as an unknown brand or a large purchase – is to create trust. Customer reviews are read by 61% of customers before making a purchase, and 66% of customers said social proof makes them more likely to buy.
Customers will feel more confident making purchases when using a well-known trust symbol. Providing verified testimonials or reviews from other customers, such as a star rating, is an excellent way to provide the social proof customers need to make an informed decision.
7. Transparency in the Checkout Process
Uncertainty and confusion – the opposite of what customers want – are the kryptonite of a multi-step checkout process. Display a progress bar that indicates where they are in the process to be aware of what is happening when. Having a step named ‘Review’ may ease concerns about the lack of an opportunity to review or make changes to purchases.
8. Various Payment Options.
Upfront payment can sometimes frighten some customers away or prevent them from purchasing at the right time in their customer journey. Numerous third-party checkout partners have recently entered the market, enabling customers to delay, split, or spread payments. To ease concerns over affordability, customers could also be prompted to use payment options at the payment point of the checkout if they are hesitating.
9. Checkout For Guests
You may want to offer your customers the option to check out as a guest if they leave the payment process when asked to create an account. Several factors contribute to this: the buyer only buys from the retailer once, they don’t want to share personal information, or – the primary factor – they don’t want to receive emails. Also, it saves them time – they want to buy what they’re after and be on their way. With only a little information, they can check out quickly.
Wrap Up
The numbers demonstrate that recapturing those potential sales is worth the relatively small investment even if you don’t get all the customers who abandon their carts back. To improve conversions, customers’ journeys need to be optimized. You’ll see a corresponding decrease in cart abandonment and an increase in recovered carts if you anticipate the customer’s thoughts, personalize the communications, and offer transparency and help when required.