Digital shopping cart abandonment
What is digital shopping cart abandonment?
Digital shopping cart abandonment occurs when a prospective customer visits an ecommerce store, begins the shopping process, adds items to their online cart, but does not complete the purchase. Most cases of cart abandonment indicate a confusing or frustrating checkout process, and can result from a variety of issues, including unexpected shipping costs, unclear return policies, and requiring shoppers to create an account to complete their order.
How can you reduce cart abandonment rate?
Shopping cart abandonment rate is calculated by dividing the total number of completed transactions by the total number of created digital shopping carts. Monitoring abandonment on your ecommerce store, and conducting A/B testing to identify why shoppers abandon their carts, can reveal valuable insights into your sales funnel or checkout flow. Depending on the specific issues, improving the user experience by offering guest checkout, using promo codes, optimising the site for mobile users, and providing clarity around shipping fees and return policies can help reduce abandonment and increase conversion rates.
What are abandoned cart recovery emails?
In addition to strategies for reducing abandonment, online retailers can also recover abandoned carts through follow-up communications. Cart recovery emails are one effective method marketers use to improve checkout completion rates. These emails include a personalised message with a direct link back to the customer’s cart and checkout page, allowing them to pick up where they left off. Retailers can also include added incentives, such as free shipping or discounts on items already in the cart, to encourage completion. These recovery emails are a useful strategy to increase conversions and enhance customer satisfaction.