How to prevent shopping cart abandonment

One of the biggest trends to come from the pandemic was the increase in digital commerce and online selling for small businesses. According to the 2021 FIS SMB PACE Report, small businesses that went through a digital transformation to survive will now continue to thrive. The push to sell online has accelerated customer loyalty and payment innovation. Businesses that offer flexible payment options will continue to win big with online shoppers.

The trend for 2021 and 2022 is that online shopping will continue to outpace face-to-face channels. Thus, another issue to keep in mind is shopping cart abandonment. Every year online retailers lose $4.6 trillion in sales due to shopping cart abandonment, while the global shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.8%.

Cart abandonment can pose a serious threat to your business and revenue growth if not taken seriously. If you want to recover lost sales, consider these six shopping cart abandonment recovery strategies to reduce loss sales and increase your return on investment.

1. Offer free shipping

Shipping cost is one of the major reasons why buyers abandon shopping carts. According to Statista, 41% of shoppers leave without checking out when the shopping cost turns out to be higher than anticipated. Another study reveals, around 61% of customers might even cancel products if free shipping is not offered.

Online customers find free shipping as an attractive incentive. So, by offering free shipping, you can decrease cart abandonment rates and increase sales.

2. Send email sequences

Once people leave your site, you must pull out the stops to get them back. Shopping cart recovery emails are a way to leverage email marketing to send customized emails to shoppers who leave your site before paying for the merchandise in their cart. You typically develop 3-to-4 emails sent in a 48-hour period. Studies show that online retailers can recover 3% to 14% of lost sales with the help of cart recovery emails.

If you want success with abandoned cart emails, make sure to write compelling email copy. You could also offer additional discounts or coupons to attract those buyers to come back and complete their transaction.

Here’s an example of a beautifully-illustrated abandoned cart email from SugarBearHair:

3. Offer flexible payment options

Savvy small businesses use payments strategically to increase their cash flow and profitability. According to the 2021 FIS SMB PACE Report, payment options that drove the greatest revenue increase were:

• Contactless
• Mobile
• eCheck
• Prepaid card

Small business leaders that use payments to create a competitive advantage will continue to offer contactless payments and other innovative payment technologies.

4. Use an exit-intent popup

An exit-intent popup is a marketing strategy used by websites and online stores to retain visitors who intend to leave the site. When a site visitor hovers the mouse near the webpage boundary at the upper margin or near the close (‘X’) button, a popup is triggered by the action.

While some marketers question its efficacy, a recent Beeketing study shows that 35% of visitors can be retained by exit-intent offers. To make exit-intent popups a winning cart recovery strategy, use your best copywriting skills to deliver a clear message and couple it with dynamic artwork and an offer your customers can’t refuse. Notice, the call-to-action button is in red below.

Popupsmart does a great job at crafting great exit intent popups like this:

5. Simplify checkout process

Nobody likes a long checkout process. Sites that make their customers create an account or spend additional time filling out forms, experience higher cart abandonment. Also, 34% of customers leave sites without placing orders if they are forced to create an account.

If you want to become more customer-centric, offer a guest check-out option and keep the account creation process optional. Seek only useful information you need to process the order like the name, address, a valid email address, phone number, and maybe an opt-in to send them marketing emails, offers and promo codes.

Remember, if you’re successful at retaining them on their first visit, you’ve already made a good impression. All you need to do next is provide a meaningful brand experience and exceptional customer service to keep them coming back to your online store.

6. Build trust

17% of customers don’t make it to the checkout due to trust issues. Online security is a serious concern, and shoppers are extra careful when they type their credit card numbers and share personal information to make a purchase. If buyers suspect trust issues, they will leave the site immediately without placing an order. To gain their trust, you need to go the extra mile and secure your site.

Here are some tips to help you achieve this:

• Make sure your site has a valid SSL certificate.
• Audit your site for bad links or technical issues and repair them.
• Use high-quality graphics.
• Write accurate and in-depth product information
• Check for spelling errors.
• Improve site navigation.
• Add social proof, testimonials and customer stories.
• Clearly mention return policy, exchange policy, shipping policy.
• Display total cost.
• Improve site loading speed.

A well-thought-out shopping cart recovery strategy will help you bring your buyers back to your site to complete checkout and grow your revenues. Don’t forget to apply the tips above to leave your customers with a positive shopping experience.