A shopper visits your website and begins browsing your product catalog. Then they begin adding products to their shopping cart. So far, so good.
However, instead of finishing the checkout procedure, they leave your website without making a purchase. That translates to no revenue for your firm.
Cart abandonment, in which customers add things to their cart and then exit their session without making a purchase, is an all-too-common occurrence in e-commerce.
Abandoned cart recovery has been an ongoing issue for e-commerce companies. Retailers were said to have lost a stunning $4.6 trillion due to abandoned products in e-commerce shopping carts! Retailers have attempted to handle this problem in two ways: avoid and recover cart abandonment.
What is abandoned cart recovery?
Abandoned cart recovery is a sales acquisition approach that involves e-commerce merchants using marketing automation and UX design to convert abandoned carts into sales. The retrieval of abandoned carts involves two steps. First, it seeks to reduce cart abandonment by decreasing friction points in the purchasing experience. Second, it contacts almost-converted clients to urge them to buy things still in their shopping cart. E-commerce firms that try to recover abandoned carts improve conversion rates and obtain a deeper insight into customer behavior.
Benefits of recovering abandoned carts
Typically, when you check your analytics, you will discover that you are converting approximately 3% of your visitors. This indicates that you can convert 30 of every 1000 customers who visit your store. However, the average add-to-cart rate is approximately 8%, or 80 of every 1000 visits. When you compare, you’ll notice that more than 60% of consumers who were interested in purchasing a product abandoned their order. And that’s a huge loss.
Consumers don’t throw items into their shopping carts at random. If they’re choosing to put a product to put in their cart, it’s because they have an interest in it. Consumers who leave carts demonstrate a strong desire to purchase. The difficulty is that something prevented them from completing the process. Customers who abandon carts indicate a strong desire to buy. The problem is that something kept them from completing the process.
Reasons why customers abandon their carts
There are a variety of reasons why shoppers abandon their carts. Understanding these causes can help organizations address underlying issues and increase conversion rates. Here are a few prevalent factors:
- Unexpected costs: During the checkout process, buyers may discover additional prices such as shipping fees, taxes, or hidden charges. High or confusing delivery prices are frequently identified as one of the leading causes of cart abandonment.
- Complicated checkout process: Long and complicated checkout procedures can frustrate customers and lead to abandonment. Excessive information, several checkout form fields, and convoluted navigation can all cause unneeded friction.
- Comparison shopping: Customers frequently compare prices, particularly for more expensive purchases. They may add things to their cart on one website before abandoning it to check pricing, read reviews, or compare possibilities on another.
- Lack of trust: If a website appears unprofessional, has a poor design, or lacks social proof like customer reviews or testimonials, first-time visitors may be hesitant to make a purchase, resulting in cart abandonment.
Strategies to turn abandoned carts into sales
So, how do you recover an abandoned cart?
Here are the fastest, most effective ways to recover abandoned carts starting today.
#1. Create multiple payment options
A single payment option may not persuade customers who have abandoned their carts to complete the transaction. 9% of customers would abandon their basket if they were unable to locate their preferred payment option on the checkout page.
You can fix this by providing a variety of payment alternatives, including credit cards, PayPal, UPI, COD, and other online payment platforms. This allows clients to select the most convenient payment method for them. You may also give a brief explanation of what will happen if they select a specific payment method and why they should choose it over the others.
#2. Guest check-out options
We’ve all been there: we’ve finalized our shopping cart and are ready to check out. Then our hearts drop as we notice the seemingly endless number of fields that must be completed to move to the next stage.
Offering a guest checkout option will appeal to first-time customers, whereas returning customers will recognize the benefit of having an account with you. Offering both alternatives gives your clients optimum flexibility, lowering cart abandonment rates.
#3. Discount offers to trigger conversion
Discounts are the most powerful motivators for conversion. And, since the folks you’re attempting to entice back are already interested, you may give a discount to persuade them to return and complete the orders.
In this situation, you may give a coupon discount to those you are re-targeting using Ads. Alternatively, you may send an email to abandoned clients, offering them a special coupon to complete their shopping within the next few days.
#4. Express scarcity
While discounts are effective, another wonderful strategy is to leverage “scarcity” as a sales trigger. If your prospect were truly interested when they abandoned the order, they will be concerned if the product is out of stock. So, three to five days after abandonment, send an email informing them that the product is still available but is soon to run out of stock.
#5. Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ads are a type of online advertising in which direct-to-consumer firms pay to promote their products to consumers who have previously visited their website but left without purchasing. Retargeting uses browser cookies and IP addresses to track website users’ activity and send advertising. For example, if a person visits your website but leaves without making a purchase, you can build a retargeting ad that appears in the user’s social network feed.
#6. Use social proof to discourage cart abandonment
Successful store owners use a secret approach to reclaim abandoned carts. They rely on fundamental psychological principles, such as social proof. Social proof refers to the reality that people are influenced by others. When we witness others purchasing a thing, we are more willing to try it ourselves.
Conclusion
Abandoned cart recovery has been a concern for e-commerce companies since the beginning. A mix of methods that work best for your business will help you achieve two goals: preventing mass cart abandonment and turning cart abandoners into loyal clients. No doubt rescuing abandoned carts pays well!
