According to a survey by Statista, back in March of 2020, it was found that 88.05 percent of orders initiated online were abandoned. This simply means that the online shopper did not move forward to actually make the final purchase. 

For 63% of online shoppers in the United States, the number one reason that they abandoned their shopping carts is that the “shipping costs too much.” The second reason for online cart abandonment was that the “discount code doesn’t work” at 46%. At 36%, shoppers complained that the order “takes forever to ship.” This was followed by “have to re-enter credit card info” at 30% and “have to re-enter shipping info” at 25%.

U.S. retailers have tried to address this by spending close to $23.50 billion on digital ads every year to bring in traffic into their e-Commerce websites. Unfortunately, this massive effort has yielded little results. The average conversion rate still lingers at 2.68%.

The Best Ways To Address The Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate

Merchants should focus on ensuring that their customers do not have a difficult time during the checkout process. One of the biggest ways to provide your customers with a hassle-free shopping experience is to provide cart optimization. Here are a few tactics you can implement now to minimize shopping cart abandonment.

• Transparency About Costs

Make it easier for customers to say “yes” by featuring all costs for the purchase upfront. This means that you should display the shipping costs, taxes, and any additional fees that they should be expected to pay. The final prices should be featured on the “order preview page”. Giving them this information only at the very end could result in the buyer regretting the selection and take their business elsewhere. 

• Checkout Page Should Include “Progress Indicators”

Featuring a progress indicator page gives customers a real-time glimpse as to where they stand in the checkout process journey. When customers get to see where they are and how much further they have to go, it gives them a visual cue on their progress and motivates them to continue till the very end. 

• Feature Thumbnails Of The Product During Checkout Process

When customers go shopping in a physical store, they are well aware of the items they are about to purchase because they can see, touch, and feel the product. This is not the case online. To reassure customers of the product selection they have made, prominently display that chosen product and keep it visible throughout the entire check out process as a visual reminder that they are making the right choice. 

• Ensure That Navigation Between Store and Card Seamless

Once customers have searched and made a product selection, they may feel compelled to go back to your store and take another final look for another product. This should be easy to do. If merchants do make it difficult to navigate between the cart and back on the site, the customer could grow impatient and leave the selected item behind.  It is also critical to reduce the number of clicks and “page views” needed to go ahead and complete their transaction. 

Prioritize An Outstanding Customer Experience

Customers are basically the same when it comes to certain shopping behavior. The reasons that customers seek purchases online are because of the speed and convenience of getting the products they love most. What they don’t love is overly-complicated and time-consuming website shopping. Experiences like these drive many customers to re-think their purchase and abandon the shopping cart. 

Merchants must continue to strive and optimize the online shopping experience of their customers by optimizing their shopping carts.