Many retailers continue to struggle with their sales funnel, and high shopping cart abandonment rates are a key contributor. We have identified the key reasons why shoppers abandon their purchases and provide key strategies for how businesses can improve their conversion rates.

Shopping cart abandonment occurs when customers add items to their shopping cart but leave before finishing their purchase.

Cart abandonment rate is an important business metric for retailers to monitor, as it is strongly correlated to customer conversion rates and revenue. A high cart abandonment rate is a common indicator of friction in your checkout process or experience.

Not every customer who adds any product or service to their cart in an eCommerce store makes it all the way through the checkout process to complete a purchase. When customers leave the store before completing the checkout process, the order attempt is stored in the abandoned cart list on the store dashboard.

Business owners can review the list of abandoned checkouts in store and follow-up with cart recovery emails. Sending cart recovery emails can help you retain customers by reminding them to finish their checkouts.

Due to the shifting consumer behaviour and changing buying habits eCommerce activities become even more important these days and the competition for customer loyalty is increasing too. New automated emails can help businesses stay on top of mind amongst their customers by automatically sending emails at key points in their customer’s journey.

Businesses can improve their online sales and retention by enabling automatic emails with a click. Remind potential customers about abandoned carts, ask customers for feedback, or re-engage with customers who haven’t visited the store in a while.

Here are some examples of when automated emails reach customers at just the right moment in their shopping experience.

• A site visitor abandons their cart- If a site visitor adds items to their cart but leaves before paying, an automated email sent 2 hours later may be the nudge they need to complete the purchase. If the email has a coupon, you’ll increase the chance that they make a purchase.
• A customer made a purchase last year- Reminding that customer that you have new items in your shop may be just the thing to bring them back again.
• A customer just bought an item- They liked what they saw in your store and may be willing to give positive feedback. An automatic email is a great way to encourage feedback.

Tactics to Decrease Your Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate 

Businesses should give customers all costs upfront, including any shipping costs, what taxes apply, and any other fees they should expect, this helps reduce the likelihood that you’ll catch shoppers off guard with an unexpected price increase.

You know when you’re standing in line at the supermarket and the cashier asks you for your eir code, or your phone number, or your star sign? Whether you have a rewards card? Whether you’d like to save 10% by opening one? All of these things are irritations that prolong the checkout process – and should be avoided in any eCommerce experience. One of the best ways to do that is by including a progress indicator on your checkout pages. By clearly showing customers where they are in the checkout process, you’re eliminating the potential worry that actually buying something from you is going to take more time than the prospect is willing to commit.

You can reduce negative shopping emotions through a pleasant checkout flow and setting expectations throughout the process. A checkout flow is less-than-stellar if:

• The checkout process takes longer than anticipated
• Customers cannot add or subtract items at this point
• Additional costs are added



Avoiding these irritants and providing an enjoyable experience can lead to more purchases.

When a consumer completes the cart process and enters checkout, reiterating their products’ value through user ratings and recommendations increases the chance of purchase. During checkout, using the term “discount” rather than “promotion” or “coupon” may increase the purchase rate due to its clear relation to price rather than a special privilege.

If consumers do end up abandoning your cart, you can work on bringing them back with promotions for the items left in their cart, including free shipping or reminders if their product’s price was lowered. Remember to make your customers more likely to view your promotion by combining email and advertising in your remarketing efforts.

Book your Free Digitisation Consultation with Proventus Digital (Awarded Most Innovative Digital Marketing Agency 2019) or start building your own eCommerce stores in-house with easy to adapt Multiscreen Platform, Proventus Digital is here to help to take your business into the digital age!

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Proventus Digital is a full-service Digital Marketing agency based in Dublin, Ireland and we help businesses succeed online by growing their online presence and increasing market share. We are all about supporting emerging businesses with the latest technology and responsive websites to ensure that any every type of business can offer a personalised experience based on each visitor's unique situation. Our Portfolio showcases some of the best workings with growing businesses.

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