Why Does Shopping Cart Abandonment Happen?
Ecommerce businesses are always in a battle with one issue: online shopping cart abandonment. It is a constant battle trying to figure out ways companies can reduce their abandonment, but it's always best to start at the beginning and figure out why customers abandon.
Shopping Cart Abandonment: What Is It?
Online shopping cart abandonment is the term given to describe what happens when a customer shopping online begins the process of purchasing a product, but before completing the transaction leaves the website. In doing so, the customer has 'abandoned' their online shopping cart and ecommerce businesses may have lost a conversion.
Why Does It Happen?
There are many reasons that will influence a customer to make them abandon their shopping cart, and there are some solutions ecommerce companies can use to decrease their online shopping cart abandonment rate. Read on to find out some reasons as to why it can happen.
Dishonest Delivery Charges
Online shopping cart abandonment can happen for a number of reasons, many of which you can have no control over. Some, however you can control including providing honest delivery charges.
Customers want their online shopping experience to be easy, successful and honest. So don't hide any information they will want to know, or give inaccurate information. No customers want nasty surprises to creep up on them, and a majority of online shopping cart abandonment occurs when delivery prices are only shown at the checkout page, or are very low until it comes to finally paying where they soar.
Looking For The Cheapest Price
There are hundreds of places for customers to shop online, and many like to shop around to find the lowest price possible. There are now many price comparison sites that provide users with the sites that have the lowest prices, and unsurprisingly those asking for less money have the highest number of conversions.
Other users will find the product they want and just before checking out will check your competitor to see which price they are offering. Again, if it's lower than yours you can bet their cart will be abandoned and your online shopping cart abandonment rate will increase.
No Guest Login Option
As stated earlier, customers want an easy and simple online shopping experience which requires minimal effort. So when asking customers to login or to make an account before being able to purchase a product, they'll be more likely to abandon.
Some ecommerce sites offer guest checkout options to give customers the option of creating an account, or to bypass it if they just want to complete the transaction. Online shopping cart abandonment is less likely for those sites offering guest checkouts and are more likely to have a higher number of returning customers and conversions, as buying from them requires minimal effort, for a product they are looking for.
There are other reasons that contribute to why customers abandon their cart which no company can foresee. For example, a phone ringing distracting a customer or loosing internet connection half way through the checkout process will increase your online shopping cart abandonment rate. But these answers explain how ecommerce sites can affect their cart abandonment rates.
