As the name implies, “cart abandonment” refers to the shopping carts on your website that have items in them but never make it beyond the checkout. These carts may be kept by your customers for future purposes or they’re totally abandoned, never to be bought again. From your perspective as the business owner, you shouldn’t consider the abandoned cart as a negative thing. Rather, you should see it as an opportunity for a potential customer worth pursuing.
When it comes to your Shopify store—or any other e-commerce website, for that matter—there are many reasons for shopping cart abandonment. Some can be due to a sudden emergency, a text message or phone call they had to address, which made them forget the shopping cart, or perhaps spur-of-the-moment decisions where, in the end, the potential buyer decided not to push through with the buy.
Most likely, however, abandoned carts may be due to some unpleasant kink the customer must’ve gone through in their buyer journey, which shaped their decision to not check out what’s in their shopping cart. To start with, you can use these simple fixes, as discussed in this post, to reduce the abandonment rate of carts on your Shopify e-commerce store and increase sales:
1. Reduce Checkout Fears
While online shopping seems the way to go these days, this doesn’t mean that the fears associated with online shopping are no longer present. Generally, those fears are centered on data security, as buyers want to feel assured they aren’t compromising their confidential information. So it falls on your shoulders to ensure all those checkout fears are reduced.
Generally, you’ll want to limit the personal information your store is asking. If it isn’t relevant to complete a purchase, then don’t ask for it. If you do have to ask for specific information, be sure to provide the justification why you’re asking for that specific information. An example is when you ask for an alternate phone number. To convince shoppers this is necessary, you may want to add a disclosure that the phone number is needed in the event the primary number can’t be reached, just to ensure the order will be delivered.
Also, you should also add a general disclosure in your checkout process that whatever personal information you’ve put in won’t be saved and will be only used to complete the purchase and nothing else.
2. Simplify Your Checkout Process
Don’t assume that just because an individual is shopping online, they’re tech-savvy. More often than not, many shoppers only know the basics, and they’re shopping online for the convenience it brings. Thus, it makes perfect sense to also make your checkout process as easy and convenient as possible. If there are any complicated elements in the process, most of the time, this can irritate a potential buyer and would be more inclined to leave the cart and your website instead.
Here are some of the best strategies to apply, to keep your checkout process simple and keep your customers happy:
- Use Clear Product Images And Descriptions: You should make your customer feel as though they’re shopping in a physical store where they know exactly what they’re getting from simply looking at your product images and descriptions.
- Don’t Require Registration: This is because many online shoppers still prefer to check out as guests. Not many online shoppers like to register to a lot of online shops, especially if it’s still their first time buying from a Shopify store.
- Test Checking Out: Put yourself in the customer’s perspective. If there’s anything you’re unhappy about with your checkout process, then take note of it and make the necessary tweaks. Often, there’s no better way for you to understand your customers than to experience what happens to them yourself.
3. Partner With Speedy Shipping Options
Customers today are still very particular about the cost. But for those who shop online, many are willing to pay a tad more for quick shipping. So, you have to provide that option to your customers. Many would abandon their carts when the shipping options aren’t fast enough. They may need the items ASAP, so they’re abandoning their cart in favor of other Shopify stores with faster shipping. Or they may not be patient enough to wait that long, so they’d rather just shop from a physical store instead.
Typically, you’ll want to offer at least three to four shipping options on your checkout. Alongside the shipping cost, be sure to also include the estimate of how long it’ll take for your orders to arrive, so you’re giving your customers different options. This can give them more room to decide on what’s favorable to them, rather than leave their cart and your site completely.
4. Offer Multiple Payment Options
Along with offering multiple shipping options, it’s also a good idea to offer multiple payment options. Not many like using or sharing their debit and credit card info, as some do still think cash is king. Alternatively, some buyers may also prefer more secure payment channels like PayPal, Payoneer, among others.
The whole point here is to make sure your Shopify store has enough payment options to cater to your customers’ needs. The more options you have, the lesser the chances of a shopper abandoning their cart simply because their preferred checkout option is unavailable.
Tip: To deal with cart abandonment rates correctly, you also need to collect data about such cases. It’ll help you to track how effective the approaches described above were for you. To do that, move data from Shopify to BigQuery. You’ll have abandoned orders in one place, get insights, and be able to maintain lower the cart abandonment rate of your store based on the data provided.
Conclusion
With the emphasis on online shopping nowadays, there’s no denying that the competition is also getting a lot stiffer. While many consumers turn toward online shopping, consequently, many eCommerce websites powered by Shopify are also popping out. This means shoppers have more options to choose from and are getting more meticulous in their decision-making process.
Essentially, you have to provide a pleasant journey on your website—else, you may lose your potential buyers or have them abandon their carts. If you notice your Shopify store suddenly having high abandonment rates, then that should be a sign for you to focus on refining the checkout process. The tips in this article can get you started.
Author’s Bio
Arlo Rowan is a digital marketing and web design expert. He has worked in this industry since 2017, after earning his marketing degree. At present, he also runs his own e-commerce website, so he knows a thing or two about abandoned shopping carts. He spends his free time blogging, sharing his expertise with the whole world.
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