4 Steps to Lower Your Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate
A customer goes into a store, makes a purchase, and then leaves without paying for said item. This is everywhere: from the grocery store to the coffee shop. It's costing retailers billions of dollars each year in lost revenue. For years now, people have been asking for solutions on how best to combat this problem of shoppers leaving their carts behind.
This article will give you four steps to lower your shopping cart abandonment rate with minimal effort and resources by either utilizing an abandoned cart app or implementing a simple process that will let you know when someone has not paid for their items yet. It will also give you a few tips to further improve your shopping experience, tactics for changing consumer behavior when it comes to abandoned carts, and a few recommendations on how to use abandoned carts for your own benefit.
What Causes People To Abandon Their Shopping Carts?
A study completed by the University of Sussex last year indicated that the average abandoned shopping cart is only occupied for 4 seconds. In each second, 1 out of every 10 shoppers leaves their cart with nothing in it. That's an awful lot of shopping bags going under the table, and it's costing retailers billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. Since 2015, retailers have lost over $30 billion due to customer abandonment. The following are the main reasons that customers don't finish their shopping journey:
Basket Size : The more items someone has in their basket, the greater the chance they will abandon it due to a lack of time.
: The more items someone has in their basket, the greater the chance they will abandon it due to a lack of time. Mobile Shopping : Shoppers using mobile devices tend to be less likely to complete their order if they can't easily find what they are looking for or pictures aren't large enough for them to see what is being purchased. This could be because it's hard to gauge size with pictures that are not high resolution or because customers don't want to miss anything else on page while looking for other products.
: Shoppers using mobile devices tend to be less likely to complete their order if they can't easily find what they are looking for or pictures aren't large enough for them to see what is being purchased. This could be because it's hard to gauge size with pictures that are not high resolution or because customers don't want to miss anything else on page while looking for other products. Incomplete Orders : Shopping cart abandonment rates increase by an average of 77% when someone has not completely filled out their order such as having one item left in the order, a wrong size item, missing items, etc.
: Shopping cart abandonment rates increase by an average of 77% when someone has not completely filled out their order such as having one item left in the order, a wrong size item, missing items, etc. Established Behavior : Once customers have left their carts behind, it is hard for them to change their behavior in order to complete their shopping. This is especially true for established visitors who already have some items checked-out and are known at the store.
: Once customers have left their carts behind, it is hard for them to change their behavior in order to complete their shopping. This is especially true for established visitors who already have some items checked-out and are known at the store. User Experience: The user experience for those who complete their purchase and fill out their check-out form must be optimal. If the checkout process has lots of fields to fill or is too long, people will abandon it along with the cart.
3 Ways To Combat Shopping Cart Abandonment
1. Use An Abandoned Cart App
Retailers can easily combat shopping cart abandonment by using an abandoned cart app such as Bloomy. Our platform was designed to work with abandoned carts by turning them into revenue generating customers. On average, Bloomy customers see a 25% increase in revenue due to abandoned carts.
Bloomy works by sending shoppers a reminder email when they have left their shopping cart behind with the items still in it. This can be used for any website that has an abandoned cart recovery program and is free for users. It also includes other benefits such as abandoned cart notifications, customer engagement tools, and a personal shopper service.
You can learn more about our platform here: https://www.bloomyapp.com/solutions/abandoned-cart-service/.
2. Change Your In-Store Shopping Experience
At Bloomy, we also recommend that retailers adapt their shopping experience to combat abandoned carts. By switching to a "checkout without shopping" checkout process, shoppers will be more likely to pay for their items immediately rather than leave their carts behind and have a second chance to complete their purchase later.
You can learn more about the checkouts without shopping process here: https://www.bloomyapp.com/solutions/checkouts-without-shopping/.
3. Use Abandoned Shopping Cart Data To Improve Customer Experience
Using the data from Bloomy's abandoned shopping cart app, you can use the shopper behavior data to improve your website's user experience and drive incremental sales. Data such as time of day, location, device type, and browser used can be used to better tailor your online marketing strategy based on prior shopping behavior.
You can learn more about how we use abandoned cart data here: https://www.bloomyapp.com/solutions/use-abandoned-cart-data/.
4. Don't Forget To Use Your Abandoned Cart Emails
Many merchants forget to use their abandoned cart emails which is why we recommend turning them into revenue boosters.
Below are some of our favorite abandoned cart follow ups:
"Don't Forget To Complete Your Order" : Remind shoppers how much they love the items in their carts and give them another chance to complete their order. You can also include a special discount or a free gift with purchase that will entice customers to check-out. This works because many people like things that they have already bought. Imagine if you purchased a new car.
Conclusion
Abandoned shopping carts can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Take the time to analyze your website's current shopping behavior and decide what is the best way to combat shopping cart abandonment. We highly recommend using Bloomy's abandoned cart email recovery service as they can have a great impact on your bottom line.
Do you have any questions about abandoned carts? Feel free to reach out to us in the comments below or on our Facebook page! For more information, visit http://bloomyapp.com/blog/. To sign up for our newsletter, click here: https://www.bloomyapp.com/blog/email-sign-up/.