Strategies to reduce shopping cart abandonment in Ecommerce

We recently talked about how to reduce shopping cart abandonment in eCommerce, but it’s a topic with so much depth that deserves a full article.

Throughout this post, we will give you a series of tips and strategies that can help you mitigate this situation, but it’s important to understand that nobody, absolutely nobody, is exempt from abandoned carts in their online store. Therefore, before we begin, let us tell you that you don’t have to live with it.

Main reasons for shopping cart abandonment in eCommerce

Let’s take a brief look at those factors that influence the user’s decision to abandon a cart in an online store. Knowing them well, we will have the possibility of strategically attacking them.

• Unexpected additional costs, such as shipping costs or certain taxes.
• The obligation to be registered to make the purchase.
• Purchase processes that are too long and complex.
• Websites that lack trust, either on the site itself or specifically in the checkout process.
• Certain usability errors on the website.
• Lack of payment alternatives.
• Very extended shipping times.
• Technical problems on the website.
• eCommerce that are not accessible for certain users (due to physical issues).

Strategies to reduce shopping cart abandonment in eCommerce

Well, don’t be scared. We know it seems very negative, but the good news is that we’re in a position to reverse it.

There is one good practice that we always recommend: audit of your store first. Rule out technical issues by testing with different devices and browsers, with more and less powerful connections… Is it functional? Perfect, we can move on.

Now would be the time to conduct some user testing, preferably with people from our target audience who are not involved in the project to avoid biased results. You can use tools of all kinds, but from experience, we would recommend a simple and practical methodology, which is to ask a person to search for and purchase a product (using a fake credit card) while we record the screen.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of the accessibility and usability issues, let’s move on to three critical aspects to reduce cart abandonment in eCommerce.

#1 – Authority

The customer, especially when new, needs arguments that give them confidence. Therefore, we should not skimp on them. For example:

• Valid SSL certificates, as the absence of the padlock next to the URL in the browser triggers all the alarms (and it’s also bad for SEO ranking).
• Testimonials, as many as possible. They can be on the store’s homepage, in the form of product reviews, on our blog… any relevant place is welcome.
• Badges and certificates. This is especially important during the checkout process, as something as simple as the logos of banks and payment providers (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal…) predispose the user in a positive way.
• Variety of payment gateways and systems. This influences authority from the moment we allow the user to use a system they know and trust.

Anything you can think of in this sense is positive and adds up. Trust is critical to avoid cart abandonment.

#2 – Transparency

Be as clear as possible with the customer. It is important that aspects such as the return policy, applied taxes, or shipping costs are collected and visible.

Obviously, when you cover the shipping costs, it is an attractive aspect that we usually highlight, but it is almost equally important to do it when it is not. The customer must have a clear understanding of the final price and conditions of the service before starting the purchase process.

The feeling of “deception” is really difficult to mitigate once it has occurred, and the customer is unlikely to return to that cart.

#3 – Customer service

No matter how much you work on your website, have a refined purchasing process, and resources for your customers to solve their doubts by themselves, nothing beats good customer service when it comes to reducing cart abandonment in eCommerce, for reasons associated with those same issues.

Implement solutions as complete as possible, do not settle for a single contact channel, and, above all, prioritize real-time attention. Remember that excessive reflection is an enemy of conversion. That is why live chats work so well.

If you also have the possibility to guide the customer and solve their more specific questions, you will achieve that customer service becomes purchase assistance. This is precisely the philosophy behind Oct8ne’s covisor sales.

#4 – Automate (extra)

Yes, we had said three pillars, but automation is a strategy that has great importance in reducing cart abandonment in eCommerce.

There are multiple and varied options, such as:

• Using triggers to activate the chat in certain situations, such as when a user spends too much time inactive in the payment process.
• Sending transactional emails to reactivate users who have left a purchase pending.
• Using remarketing also on social networks and Google Ads with those specific audiences.

As you can see in this overview, we can get an idea of how important cart recovery is in an online store. It is true that it requires extra work, but it is costly to attract traffic just to let users leave without making a purchase, right?