“Abandoned cart” in e-shops – what are its causes?

Did you know that nearly 70% of customers abandon their carts and ultimately decide not to make a purchase? This phenomenon is becoming a plague in the e-commerce industry, which translates into lower profits for e-shops. So what direction should be taken to reduce the frequency of this phenomenon?

The term “abandoned cart” refers to a situation in which a customer adds products to a virtual cart, but does not ultimately complete the order. To find out the reasons for this state of affairs, a detailed analysis of customer behavior in a specific store is necessary.

It is difficult to clearly indicate the reasons for such actions, because it is often an individual problem. However, it is possible to indicate the obstacles that customers most often struggle with, and there are several of them.

Problematic registration

Building online stores should be highly thought out, also in terms of their comfort of use. That is why the need to register in a given e-shop is still surprising, which often discourages further purchases. The mere thought of filling out long forms and concerns about incoming spam after registration make customers decide to buy from the competition.

The best solution is to give customers the option to choose: make a purchase without having to register, log in to a previously created account, or register when the customer visits the store for the first time.

It is worth encouraging visitors to register in an unobtrusive way – it is enough to communicate in a concise form the benefits of it and assure them that it will not take much time.

Problems with delivery and shipping

This term means the lack of the form of order delivery desired by the customer, or its too long. This is a problem directly related to the business and finding other partners providing delivery services, and not to the e-store project itself. A large number of cart abandonments are related to situations in which the customer is informed about the shipping costs only at the last stage of placing the order. Various hidden costs not only cause cancellation of purchases, but also have an impact on building a negative image of the company.

Numerous studies have proven that customers are more likely to complete a transaction when the store offers them free shipping. Of course, this is not always possible, which is why it is worth taking part in campaigns such as “free shipping day.”

Lack of information about returns

Information regarding returns is absolutely essential, especially on websites that sell clothes (but not only). After all, it often happens that the size we ordered is wrong. And what should we do in such a situation?

To prevent a customer from leaving the store, we should inform them about the possibility of returning the purchased product and about the terms of complaint.

This type of information should be placed in a visible place so that there is no way it can be overlooked. This creates a professional image of the store and increases the customer’s trust, who is more willing to make a purchase, knowing that if anything happens, they will not have problems with returning the goods.

The abandoned cart effect is an extremely common phenomenon. Professional construction of online stores is a guarantee of an increasing number of transactions and prevention of this phenomenon.

A skillfully designed e-store translates into higher satisfaction of visitors, who will be happy to recommend it to other Internet users. Investing in a professional e-commerce system pays off extremely quickly, so it is worth ensuring a high level of its functionality.