Why Do People Keep Abandoning Their Cart On My Website?
So, you think your ecommerce conversions could be better? One of the metrics you can investigate is how many people abandon their cart on your website. If you’re surprised by the percentage of customers that don’t follow through with a purchase, you’ll want to find out why this is happening. In this guide, we’re looking at some of the top reasons why your customers may be abandoning ship at the last hurdle.
You don’t offer the right payment options
If you have a restrictive range of payment options, you could lose shoppers. For instance, if you only offer credit cards and PayPal as a payment method, you will lose out on customers who would rather pay with a debit card. There are also benefits to adding Pay Later options to your checkout.
Your site isn’t secure
One of the key indicators to online shoppers that they’re using a trusted site is the ‘https’ security protocol. If you’re using ‘http’, you should make the switch. Savvy shoppers won’t take any chances when handing over payment details online, so make sure they feel safe shopping on your site.
Your competition could be better
In the fickle online shopping climate, shoppers are free to flit from one website to another. They may find a better offer on another site, or they may prefer the returns policy that another company provides. You won’t always be able to beat the competition, but it’s worth identifying the frequently abandoned products and comparing them with competitors.
Sometimes shoppers will come back to your site and make a purchase. It’s not always a bad thing if a cart is abandoned – it can mean they’re researching and haven’t made a decision yet.
Delivery costs are high
A big reason customers might abandon their shopping basket is high delivery costs. Of course you don’t want to undersell a product and delivery service you provide, but sometimes it can be worth factoring in the delivery price into the upfront cost. According to an article published by Forbes, the secret to keeping online shoppers happy is to provide fast and free shipping.
Your checkout process isn’t clear – or isn’t working!
It can be worth performing a sanity check with a test purchase. You might find that your checkout process isn’t as clear as it could be. There could also be a few glitches. If it is the latter, your customer service department will likely have heard from disgruntled customers that your website isn’t working properly.
You don’t have the option to ‘checkout as guest’
If you expect customers to register with your site (and force them to create a password), this could put them off. Sign-ups should be an optional part of the checkout process. If you don’t already, make sure you provide the option to checkout as a guest. Remember, you want to make the checkout experience as hassle-free as possible.
We hope this guide has provided you with some useful tips to help you get to the bottom of why potential customers keep abandoning their shopping cart.
