10 effective ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment on your online retail store

By | Sep 29, 2016 | 1847 views |
  • 10 effective ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment on your online retail store

Your online retail store might have the best products at the most affordable pricing, but this is no guarantee that you will not face cart abandonment issues. With the average cart abandonment rate varying between 60-80%, every store owner needs to find the ways that can help in reducing the rate of abandoned carts.

It is always easier to add certain key features and strategies on the website itself that engage the customer better and compel her to complete her order rather than following up and trying to convert the abandoned cart clients.
 
Let us go through a list of features that ensure the checkout process on online selling websites is effective and effortless for customers:

1) Easy Site Navigation
 
By keeping your site navigation easy you can help customer make a purchase faster. Also, allow simple navigation from cart to site to enable easy addition of products in the cart. Search and links to major categories and subcategories should also be kept simple and easily navigational when you create online stores. This basic steps greatly reduce the number of incomplete orders on your site.
 
Related Read: 5 eCommerce best practices to create the most amazing online store

2)  Wish List and Save for Later Option
 
We know that despite finding the best product and prices, some shoppers defer the purchase for some time. By offering an option of saving the desired product in the cart or Wishlist, you can keep the customer engaged and interested in completing their order at a more suitable time.
 
Related Read: 10 must have ecommerce features for the success of your website
 
3) Offer Multiple Payment Options
     
Always offer as many payment options to your customers as you can. Nothing can be worse than losing a potential purchase because you have limited payment options. If you are using an e commerce platform in India with pre integrated payment solutions, go for the one which offers you maximum number of choices and COD which is still the most preferred payment option for the Indian customers.
  
Related Read: Payment Gateways for E-commerce stores

4) Show Thumbnail images
 On the checkout page, along with the product code and product name, provide thumbnail of the item(s) being purchased by the customer. This minimizes confusion and the customer is clear about the product(s) he is order. This helps in reducing cart abandonment rate.
  
Related Read: How to do product photography to increase the sales of your webstore

5) Editable Cart
 
Many a times customers want to make last minute edits in their shopping cart. They want to remove certain items, change the quantity or may be add some more items to the cart. Allowing easy editing is one of the easiest and most helpful cart abandonment solutions.
 
Related Read: Is your online web store forcing the customers to abandon their cart?

6) No Hidden Pricing
 
Product price change is one of the most common reasons of abandoned cart. Therefore, make your product pricing crystal clear to avoid any kind of confusion during the later stages of a purchase cycle. To infuse additional trust offer price match guarantee, easy refund and easy replacement so that the customer feels she is purchasing from a site that is confident about its product and services.
 
Related Read: How to respond to negative online product reviews
 
7) Shipping Choices and FREE Shipping
 
Offering multiple logistics solution for ecommerce is a tested way of reducing cart abandonment. A recent study showed that customers are ready to pay more for faster or same day delivery. Another great way of reducing cart abandonment is offering FREE shipping which entices the buyer to go for immediate purchase.
  
Related Read: An Introduction of Indian E-commerce Logistics providers

8) Security and Trust Logos
 
Trust and security are two most crucial factors in online shopping. Each time a shopper is sharing her confidential financial information online, she should be ensured that the site and the payment channel is fully secure. Adding SSL and other trust logos or badges can reduce cart abandonment significantly.
 
Related Read: Why SSL encryption for e commerce websites is a must have feature?
 
9) Guest Checkout
 
Online selling websites can lose customers by making registration mandatory for placing the order. Offering guest and anonymous checkout helps in improving sales from first time customers.
  
Related Read: 5 things to check before launching your new online store

10)  Offer Support
 
Customers do have queries about product quality, shipping, payment or might face certain other issues while completing an order. They either need an immediate solution or abandon their cart n hop on to some other website offering the same products. Therefore, every webstore should have various support channels like toll free support number or online chat where they can get their queries answered. Offering 24x 7 support can reduce cart abandonment to a great extent.
  
Related Read: 5 things to research thoroughly while preparing your ecommerce business plan

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Conclusion

Accepting a problem is the first step towards solving it. Once you identify the reasons that might be pushing your customers towards leaving their checkout incomplete you can also work out effective cart abandonment solutions.
 
Now that you know the top 10 reasons and 10 effective measures to reduce cart abandonment, work on these to find means to increase your conversion rate.
 
Keep watching StoreHippo blog section for more details on following up and converting your abandoned cart orders successfully.

If you have queries or suggestion on the topic, please leave your comments below.

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