$4.6 trillion. It’s a huge sum of money, right?

Well, that’s the worth of revenue eCommerce businesses lose every year because of shopping cart abandonment — considering the 75% average shopping cart abandonment rate across industries.

This means that every 3 out of 4 visitors on eCommerce websites never actually place the order. And keeping in mind the costs and effort it takes to get people interested in your product or service in the first place, this represents a significant missed opportunity for eCommerce retailers.

Therefore, many retailers nowadays are constantly looking for ways to deal with their leaky sales funnels, and to reduce their high cart abandonment rates.

And that is what we are going to discuss in this blog. But first, let's understand what exactly is this high cart abandonment rate and why does it even exist in the first place.

What Is Cart Abandonment?

Well, shopping cart abandonment is whenever a potential customer begins the checkout process for an item online, but abandons it in the cart itself, before completing the purchase.

Therefore, any item that is first added in the cart and later not purchased is generally referred to as an "abandoned" item.

Abandonment rate is calculated as:

As an important metric for ecommerce sites, the shopping cart abandonment rate should be closely monitored by eCommerce store owners. This is because a high abandonment rate often indicates a poor user experience or an ineffective sales funnel — and this isn’t a good thing.

Increasing sales and revenue by reducing shopping cart abandonment is a top priority for many online retailers.

Reasons For High Cart Abandonment Rates

Customer abandonment of digital shopping carts is a common occurrence. But what's the reason behind it?

Shopping cart abandonment can be attributed to a variety of factors, including technical issues, poor user experience design, and, last but not least, the abandoner's personal motives.

Let us study them in detail.

1- Technical Issues That Lead To Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment is often the result of technical issues, which can occur both before and during checkout.

However, some of the major issues are:

• Page errors or faulty pages
• Longer Loading times
• Unoperational Vouchers
• Login Failures
• Hiccups in final payments

2- UX Issues That Lead To Cart Abandonment

Unsatisfactory user experience is also a big culprit which leads to pretty cart high abandonment rates for eCommerce businesses.

Some of the major UX induced problems look like:

• Delay in appearance or lack of essential information
• Complicated checkout processes leads to distrust
• When signing up is essential or ordering as a guest is not possible
• Lack of preferred payment methods
• Bad or no product reviews create doubts

3- Personal Reasons That Lead To Cart Abandonment

It is not always the website to be at fault for the cart items to be abandoned by the customer. There are instances where the customer himself is the reason.

Some of such instances are:

• The customer finds the product too expensive
• Or the product the customer is looking for is missing
• The shipping cost or delivery charges are high according to the customer
• The delivery time is too long

Ways To Reduce High Cart Abandonment Rates

1- Reduce The Price Shock

Unforeseen costs are one of the main reasons for cart abandonment. This usually refers to hidden shipping costs that only appear at the end of the check-out procedure.

Ensure that your shipping costs are transparent while the customer browses your products to minimise the shock, followed by abandonment of carts due to price problems. In order to estimate transport costs and to reduce the surprises afterwards, we recommend that a calculator be added before check out.

Another popular approach is to cut shipping expenses with free or discounted delivery based on the value of the order.

2- Exit Intent Overlays

Exit intent technology is one of the most dependable ways to minimize your shopping cart abandonment. Visitors who show signs of wanting to leave can be targeted with strategically timed overlays that encourage them to stay.

As an example, a timely message offering free shipping for purchases over a certain amount might not only save the sale, but also increase the average order value.

A subdued rollout and a data-driven understanding of customer behaviour are required for this technology to be successful, or else it can backfire, because the customer might get irked and leave for good.

3- Email Remarketing

One of the most effective ways to get people to return to their abandoned shopping carts, irrespective of the reason, is by sending them an email.

In fact, it has been seen that cart abandonment emails are 19% more effective than normal promotional emails.

Despite the fact that email remains one of the most effective marketing tools, customers expect more than just a mass mailing.

In order for it to be effective, it must be deployed in a personalised, relevant way that makes the customer feel like they're not being spammed, but cared for. Upon their return, you'll be able to welcome them and guide them back to where they left off.

4- SMS Remarketing

A study found that 95% of texts are read within 3 minutes of being sent. And since more people shop online using their mobile devices, it makes sense to refocus their attention on completing the sale while they're still holding the device they were shopping on.

Consider SMS remarketing to remind customers that their abandoned shopping carts are still waiting for them if mobile browsing and sales account for a large portion of your traffic.

5- Retargeting Ads

76% more people are likely to click on an advert retargeting ad than on a standard display advertisement.

Their cue? Familiarity.

Due to the fact that they're reminding the customer of something they already desire, not something they might possibly desire in the future.

You can expect them to click on your Retargeting Ad 10 times more than you would on an ordinary one, with brand recognition and targeted content or offers playing a major role in this decision making.

6- Gamify Your Checkout Process

Intense, lengthy checkout processes that require multiple pages or steps irritate online shoppers.

On your shopping carts, you can show customers how many steps they will need to take to purchase your product by displaying a progress indicator.

There will be more appeal to the customer's desire for a quick and easy purchase if there are less pages or steps. A clear, simple, yet very helpful indicator design from Puma does a great job at achieving this.

7- Use Simple yet Enticing CTA Buttons

Every marketer is aware of the importance of calls to action in their marketing campaigns. In your shopping cart, do you use call-to-action buttons? They are just as important as they have always been.

What should the users do next? It's up to you to tell them.

Each phase of the checkout process should have a set of instructions in the form of headlines. Tell the user, for example, "Where should we send your stuff? Please fill out your address"

8- Include Product Thumbnail In The Cart Itself

The "selected" item should be reassured with thumbnail images of products throughout the checkout process.

Thumbnail pictures function as a base technique and connect the customer to what is to be bought. These images help eliminate distractedness, especially if the customer hesitates to complete the purchase if he cannot remember what he will buy immediately.

9- Offer Live Chat Support During The Checkout Process

Buyers often have questions, concerns, or requests when browsing your online products and paying for a product.

If your shopping cart has a live, real-time chat support feature, the buyer can ask questions that could help them decide whether or not they want to buy your product right away.

Your support team may not be able to assist all online shoppers, but you can still use a chatbot to answer FAQs in an interactive manner, even if your support team is limited.

10- Add Social Proof Everywhere

Some people only put customer testimonials on a dedicated page. We believe and propose to place them all over your landing pages — even during your check-out.

The level of motivation can be turned higher as the customer continues to check a simple callout or sidebar with one or two positive reviews by previous customers about the product.

11- Show Options At The Checkout Process

Another way you can reduce your cart abandonment rate is by showcasing your other products at the time of checkout.

Doing this will not only encourage your customers to complete the checkout process but will also increase your chances of selling more products at that time. Amazon does this wonderfully but showing product bundles right before the checkout process.

12- BONUS Tip: Let Your Users Try The Item With Augmented Reality

This one isn't a must-do step, but giving your customer an option to try out the procuts in real-time with the help of AR is also a clever way to sell more products.

This works because when a customer is able to see how does the product looks on them or looks like in real — it create a strong sense of desire in them for the product.

Wrapping Up

It's easy to forget that once you get to the checkout, customers check every step they take as now the money is about to be involved. Just like succeeding in every field of life... it all comes down to tried and true principles.

Every domain, every piece of copy and logo, even if only on an unconscious level, is scrutinized and processed even though they've never purchased before.

If you are proactive in finding ways to reduce fears, increase confidence and reiterate why people have decided to buy from you, then you could only move more people from checkouts to being real customers.