Skip to main content
5 ways to save abandoned shopping carts

Why do consumers not complete transactions and how to save abandoned shopping carts?

M
Written by Martyna Woźniszczuk
Updated over a week ago

Research conducted by the Chamber of Electronic Commerce on behalf of Mobile Institute shows that every third consumer interrupts his or her purchases. This situation is repeated regardless of the purchase category, the value of the virtual shopping cart or device from which the order is made. What can be done to avoid this situation in your online store?

The video version of this article is available also on YouTube:

Why do consumers not complete transactions?

From the report “Porzucony e-koszyk: Dlaczego konsumenci porzucają zakupy w Internecie?” we know that the online customers' shopping path is getting longer and longer. Buyers very often visit a given e-commerce site to review its offer, check current promotions or compare prices with competitors. 32% of respondents admitted to such behaviour. There is also a large group of Internet users who are focused on finalising the transaction, but several accompanying circumstances hinder them. The most important of them are:

  • lack of a clearly defined payment method,

  • unattractive delivery and return conditions.

The study shows that consumers are ready to wait up to 4 days for delivery and want to get a free return. It should also be remembered that the abandonment of the shopping cart does not always mean cancelling the purchase. 19% of respondents admitted that they added selected products to their favourites to be able to buy them shortly. 16% of respondents put products in their shopping cart, 14% make screens, 13% make notes, and every fifth person creates electronic or paper shopping lists. Confronting this data with the information that as many as 61% of people who could not find previously selected products in their shopping cart ultimately gave up shopping, gives a clear signal to the owners of e-commerce.

So how to save abandoned shopping carts?

1. Make sure your online shop is running quickly

According to Neil Patel, every extra second of loading your e-commerce resources is a 7% loss of conversion. A lot, isn't it? It is worth to analyse and optimise this element. To do this, you need to look at the statistics available in Google Analytics and see from which pages your customers most often leave the online store. Remember that the website loading speed also translates into the visibility of your e-shop in Google. By speeding up its operation, you gain double.

2. Remember about mobile users and CTA

Today, more and more customers shop on mobile devices. Adapting the look of the online store to browsing on smartphones or tablets is a necessity. We call it responsiveness. The issue of clear and intuitive navigation is also significant. The customer needs to know how to search for a given product immediately after entering the shop's website. We should also remember about simple and clear CTAs, i.e. calls for action. Messages such as “buy now” or “add to cart” will undoubtedly help customers move around the site and make decisions, and thus minimise the risk of abandoning the cart.

3. Shorten your shopping path

Just three clicks and it's done – that's what Internet users dream of buying online. By simplifying the shopping path to the maximum, shopping baskets are less frequently abandoned. This situation is also influenced by the often imposed need to register and create an account. Remember that you can encourage customers to take this step later by sending them an e-mail describing the benefits of setting up an account – tracking the shipment, notification of order status.

4. Reminders about the abandoned shopping carts

It is often the case that the shopping basket is left for random reasons. By using automated marketing, you can remind your customers about the products added to their shopping cart and thus encourage them to complete the transaction. An excellent method is also to add a discount coupon for selected products or to indicate to the customer products complementary to the ones he has already chosen. Using the automation tool offered by QuarticOn, you can design your e-mail campaign scenario and specify the frequency of sending messages. This way, you can perfectly adapt your communication to your target group and save more shopping baskets from being abandoned.

5. Choice of payment methods

Internet users like to have a choice. Both in terms of products, their delivery and payment methods. There is probably no more annoying situation than when you want to complete a transaction, and it turns out that payment is possible only with a credit card that you do not have at the moment. You would agree with that, wouldn't you? So, provide your customers with the possibility to use several payment methods – traditional bank transfer, fast Internet payments, PayPal, Blik, mobile payments. Today, there are many possibilities – it is worth taking advantage of them in order not to abandon the shopping cart at the last stage of the order.

Did this answer your question?