The Top 10 Trusted Solutions to Reduce Abandoned Carts

The Top 10 Trusted Solutions to Reduce Abandoned Carts

What is every e-commerce store’s dream business scenario?

Getting customers to checkout.

In reality, though, a good number of online customers visit your website, check on the same product thrice, click on “add to cart” and just a step before payment confirmation, ugh, they abandon the cart completely.

E-commerce stores lose out billions in sales revenue because of cart abandonment. In fact, in 2022, the average shopping cart abandonment stat stands very close to 70% which is alarmingly huge.

But worry not, we’ve gathered some strategies on how to reduce abandoned carts, so you can maximize sales and raise your revenues.

Are you ready to recover those vanished shoppers?

What’s an Abandoned Cart?

Cart abandonment is literally how it sounds like, it is where shoppers abandoned their carts and scurry away from your site, with little to zero interest of return to complete their checkout.

While cart abandonment has become a common fixture, there are a multitude of ways to reduce abandoned carts.

Reasons Why Shoppers Abandon Their Carts

Customer abandonment is a problem that needs to be resolved or suffer excruciating consequences.

Below we go over every shopper’s biggest online shopping pet peeve that led them to leave their carts behind.

  • Forced to Create an Account

    All you want to do is make a purchase, but you get held by account creation demands. It’s annoying, really, especially if you’re just making a one-time single purchase on this online store, yet, they still insist.

    Okay, businesses want to do their lead generation and reach out to their customers. However, first-time buyers only see the extra work of filling out information (they might not want to share) and remembering passwords, so it figures.

  • Checkout Process is Tedious

    Nobody likes complicated things, especially, not when you’re buying products. A smooth frictionless checkout flow is the ideal experience that entices customers.

    Yet, what have you got in your checkout process? The sequence of steps is illogical with too many spaces of information to be filled out.

    It seems like you’re doing a fine job at scaring your potential buyers away.

  • Looking for Promo Codes

    Incentives motivate people. They want little rewards, here and there, especially when they’re buying something.

    Many eCommerce stores are providing promotional codes and other incentives to their first-time customers that would prompt them to create an account and ultimately buy.

    If others are doing it, but you’re not doing it, what’s stopping your potential clients to shop elsewhere?

  • Payment Security Concerns

    Don’t you think it’s rather rational to be hesitant to buy from stores or brands you don’t recognize?

    Brand awareness leads to trust. If customers get comfortable with you, they will trust you.

    But, outdated website? Lack of social proof? No SSL certificates?

    It would be hard to lure in buyers from making a purchase with those red flags looming over your online store.

  • Lack of Purchase Intent

    E-commerce stores are always accessible. And people, they love to browse and scroll through items out of boredom without any agenda at all. So, when they’ve had enough of their “window shopping,” they abandon their carts and leave without the promise of a return.

    That said, sometimes, buyers just don’t have enough purchase intention to make it to the final checkout.

  • Limited Payment Methods

    People love having options because they want to be in control. They seek choices — from cuisines, streaming services and even online shopping.

    Payment methods fall into that category too. When shoppers are ready to checkout purchases, they expect to see a variety of payment options that work for them.

  • Comparison Shopping

    People shop around with the intention of making the best deals. While comparison shopping sounds exciting for avid shoppers, this means intense competition for you.

    As customers check the competitor’s shelves, they might discover similar products that are way cheaper and have better shipping offers. Thus, your would-be buyers will drop their purchase like a hot potato and shop at another store.

  • Unanticipated Shipping Cost

    It’s a fact! Nothing infuriates shoppers more than the hidden fees added at the checkout.

    According to the study conducted by Baymard Institute cart abandonment, once the high extra cost is exposed, shoppers who have the intention of buying abandon their purchases entirely.

How to Reduce Abandoned Carts?

Oh, stop the fretting, abandoned carts are not lost cause. There are different tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your site to reduce abandoned carts.

From live chat to guest checkout options, you’ll finally entice your customers into buying that product.

  • Stating Cost from the Outset

    We already mention that customers detest extra cost surprises. To them, it comes off as cheating. That said, be upfront with your customers, and lay down all the associated fees.

    Prices vary in different locations. So, it would be great if you can break it down on the product page. In cases though, where you can’t put the exact price, you can provide a range for the cost of shipping instead. Just remember to always update the pricing information.

  • Payment Options Flexibility

    It is more convenient and fast for customers to use their preferred payment method.

    That’s why you should consider expanding your payment options to cater to different customer preferences. It’s even better if you could do your research and find out what sort of payment integrations works best for them.

  • Build Trust on Your Site

    There’s a wide array of strategies that you can use to earn and eventually increase trust.

    Perhaps, the most common is to build social proof. For example, you can use customer testimonials, get more referrals, share milestones or media coverage.

    Doing all these will give customers confidence in you and your brand. Once you’ve gained that trust, customers will buy, and they will buy more often with positive referrals too.

  • Provide Guest Checkout Option

    Don’t enforce account creation; give your would-be customers choices. After all, the goal is to create a checkout workflow that is easy and fast.

    You can offer guest checkout options, allowing buyers the freedom to not share information they don’t want to — no card information, phone numbers or email addresses.

    By getting rid of this extra step in your checkout process, you’re limiting the time and effort required for a buyer to complete a purchase.

  • Offer Free Shipping

    With free shipping, the purchase cost is reduced.

    Since Target, eBay and Amazon all offer the same marketing strategy, customers also expect the same thing in all e-commerce stores.

    Assured that there won’t be unexpected checkout charges, shoppers are more encouraged to checkout items in the carts.

  • Live Chat Customer Service

    Studies show that customers are more willing to transact with businesses that can provide fast response time.

    Offering live chat support allows you to solve a multitude of issues and queries, with a response time that’s almost instant.

    But be careful, live chat features instant communication — if you can’t deliver, you might as well consider outsourcing support via a virtual assistant.

  • Streamline Your Sites Navigation

    Time is valuable for everybody. This is why a site’s design has to allow users to switch carts, add and store items without drama.

    In short, to prompt a buying decision, it shouldn’t take customers four or five minutes to toggle between pages just to checkout items.

  • Leverage Strong Call-to-Action

    If buyers are stuck in the checkout process, they’ll most likely lose patience and abandon their carts.

    CTA is an important element in your website that tells shoppers what to do next. So, make sure that the call-to-action signpost is there, highlighted in clear and simple words.

  • Improve Page Loading Speed

    That loading throbber is sticking out and going in for almost 3 minutes now — where is that checkout page?

    Slow page loading speed is a total downer. It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of your beloved customers.

    Ergo, make sure to enhance your site’s speed, in all channels of your online store, that includes your mobile phone, as it’s becoming really trendy now for online shopping.

  • Optimize Abandoned Cart Email

    Unless you do something about it, cart abandonment seems final.

    To persuade customers who abandoned their carts right before checking out, you can use “abandoned cart emails.”

    This effective sales recovery tactic works by sending out personalized emails to buyers that automatically enable them to return to their shopping carts.

Reduce Abandoned Carts in a Nutshell!

Yes, cart abandonment is a real problem for many e-commerce stores. But it’s not a transaction muddle that can’t be overcome.

With the help of all the strategies in this list, and shifting how you approach work, you can reduce abandoned carts and earn skyrocketing sales.

We say, heed our advice, do what you must and outsource the rest. In no time, those abandoned carts will be moving fast through the sales funnel.