Discover 5 ways to deal with abandoned shopping carts

According to the results of a study presented by Baymard On average, 69.8% shoppers abandon their shopping carts in online shops and do not complete the transaction. If a shop identifies the main reason for abandonment and eliminates it, it can double its profits! This is not easy, as the potential causes are many and stem from, among other things, different customer motivations. Read this article to find out about them and how to minimise the number of abandoned baskets.

From the outset - what are abandoned baskets?

To know how to fight the enemy, you have to know the enemy. Therefore, before you move on to the paragraph on methods to reduce the percentage of abandoned baskets, you need to understand what this phenomenon is. Abandoned baskets in an online shop are situations where potential customers add products (or services) to their shopping basket but ultimately leave the shop, without finalising the transaction. 

However, it is worth pointing out that if you are struggling with abandoned baskets in your shop - you are not alone. It is an integral part of the purchasing process and all online businesses are struggling. 

Why customers abandon their shopping baskets - possible scenarios

Price

This is obvious. Customers want to choose the best (read: lowest) possible offers for themselves. Therefore, if you are running an online shop, you must constantly monitor the competing sites and their prices. Pay attention not only to the price of the product itself, but also to the cost of delivery. If a customer sees two products at a similar price, but one has a lower (or even zero) shipping price, they will choose the second option. No question about it. 

Often a mistake of online shops is to hide the delivery price. In such a situation, an abandoned basket may be due to the fact that the customer, when putting the product in the basket, wanted to check what the final price would be. Remember to be transparent about costs. Make information about payment methods and delivery prices visible. 

Overly complicated and time-consuming purchasing process

Web users are demanding and impatient. If the purchasing process in your shops is not made as simple as possible, you have to reckon with the fact that many potential customers will abandon the transaction. 

What do you need to bear in mind? First and foremost, make sure that your shopping basket is visible at every stage of the shopping process. Displaying the number of products added to it is also a great help. The ability to edit the shopping basket without any problems is also important for the convenience of your customers. What else? Allow shopping on the site without registration and simplify all forms to a minimum. How? By removing redundant fields and enabling the auto-complete option. 

Lack of confidence in the shop

Online shopping involves the need to provide one's sensitive data. Most customers will not take this step if the shop is not reliable. 

What do you need to do to make your shop inspire confidence?

• ensure an efficient and modern-looking website - buttons that do not work, elements that do not load - visitors may suspect, for example, that such a shop has been set up by a fraudster looking to defraud. 

• showcase the team and facilitate contact with the customer service department - even though we buy online, we want to know that if there are any problems with the order, there is someone on the other side of the screen to help us

• provide clear rules for returns and complaints - the website should describe in plain language the conditions for returns and complaints. Add link to them in the footer and on the product pages

• show the customer that he is safe with you - one of the basic mistakes of online shops is the lack of a certificate SSLwhich ensures the confidentiality of data transmission. A customer's suspicion that a transaction in a shop is not fully secure is a common reason why they abandon their shopping basket 

• encourage customers to leave feedback - social proof has a strong influence on our purchasing decisions

Reclaim your abandoned baskets! 5 ways

Personalised messages to people who have abandoned the shopping cart

If you have the e-mail address of a customer who has abandoned the shopping cart in your shop, send him a personalised message. Address him by name, then show what products are waiting for him and add a CTA button under which you hide a direct link to the shopping basket. The customer will appreciate this personalised approach and the ease of returning to purchase.

Remarketing

A tactic such as remarketing makes it possible to reach potential customers who have already visited a site in the past, but did not convert on it. Advertising messages follow the potential customer step by step. They are displayed not only on other websites, but also on social media. In addition, dynamic remarketing allows you to target your advertising to those browsing for a particular product/service. This gives you even more certainty that your offer will meet with interest.

Use of FOMO and indication of a time-limited offer

If offers like -50% were in force in shops non-stop, do you think they would work as well as they do now? No, because the customer would procrastinate the purchase decision. Setting a deadline is key to the FOMO strategy (Fear Of Missing Out). It makes us act under pressure as customers. Apply the rule of urgency in shop. Limited time or price offers can work very effectively.

Shop page optimisation for mobile devices

40% customers use these devices to carry out research on their purchases, and more than half regularly buy via smartphones. Therefore, if a website is not mobile-friendly, it will lead to a significant proportion of customers abandoning their shopping cart. The website needs to be responsive so that the shopping experience is not tiring. This means that it should adapt to screens of any resolution.

Among the most popular tools for creating responsive websites are: CMS Hub, WordPress, Squarespace or Wix.

Give freedom of choice in payment

Customers want to be in control of the ordering process. They want to be able to choose the payment method that suits them best. To meet their needs, you need to include payments in your shop:

• via several online payment systems
• bank transfers
• cash on delivery
• through various types of credit cards (consider placing their logo on your website)

Online shop success - seizing the opportunity presented by abandoned baskets

Remember, an abandoned shopping cart does not mean failure. Unfinished purchases can be due to various reasons - including those beyond the shop's control. It is important that you treat such a situation as an opportunity to get back in touch with the customer and find out how the shopping basket is functioning (in the case of a large number of abandoned baskets). Abandoned baskets should be seen as an excellent starting point to present your core strengths to customers and build a lasting relationship.