Understand and reduce shopping cart abandonment

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UNDERSTANDING AND LOWERING SHOPPING CART ABANDONMENT

Transcript of Understand and reduce shopping cart abandonment

UNDERSTANDING AND LOWERING SHOPPING CART ABANDONMENT

While it would certainly be too much to think that

cart abandonment can be eliminated altogether,

there are several things a retailer can do to cut

down on the percentage of customers who show

a lot of initial purchase intent, but then end up

leaving items behind. Getting inside the head

of the customer and figuring out where the sale

went wrong is difficult, and there are lots of factors

involved that make the situation even more

complex.

However, when we break down overall shopper

intent and reasons for not buying, it becomes a little

more straightforward.

As every online retailer knows, “shopping cart abandonment” – when online shoppers fill up thecart and fail to buy – is achallenge.

We’ve compiled essential information on a recent study

(conducted by Magento and Bronto Software) that

focused on uncovering the reasons behind the rising

number of abandoned shopping carts as a percentage of

all ecommerce website visits. While this study examines

many different areas of interest surrounding shopping

cart abandonment, we are primarily focused on using

these clues to answer the following questions:

SO WHAT CLUES ARE THERE TO HELP US SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF SHOPPINGCART ABANDONMENT?

‹ Cart abandonment is on the rise. Why are

consumers abandoning their shopping carts more

frequently and what opportunities might this

provide marketers?

‹ What tactics work well to convert customers who

would likely abandon their cart otherwise?

‹ What tactics are more likely to make matters

worse, that would annoy or put the customer off?

‹ What are the best shopping cart and shopping

cart abandonment strategies?

Over 1000 online shoppers who had

made an online purchase within the last

twelve months received a survey asking

questions about their experiences. The

study asked them about shopping cart

abandonment and the follow-up emails

that companies often send after the

consumer abandons their cart.

STUDY OVERVIEW The respondents were split into three

groups—frequent shoppers, occasional

shoppers, and infrequent shoppers.

Frequent shoppers were identified as

those who purchase at least weekly;

occasional shoppers make Internet

purchases at least every month, and

infrequent shoppers buy less than once

a month.

HOW CUSTOMERSBEHAVE WITH THEIR SHOPPING CARTSThe shopping cart is no longer used the way

retailers expect or want it to be, which is: as the

simple, final step prior to making an online purchase.

Instead, shoppers use the shopping cart for various

reasons, only some of which connect directly to the

purchase.

The study concluded that consumers use their

shopping cart for the following reasons:

‹ To summarize and consolidate their potential

buying choices, so that they can see everything

in one place and then decide which items they

want to keep and those they want to remove - a

virtual staging ground;

‹ To save items in one place, for purchase

consideration at a later date;

‹ To create a wish list of items that will be shopped

for later or shared with friends;

‹ To save items so that they can be accessed on

a different device at a later time;

‹ To view products on a mobile device while

shopping on a mobile device shopping in a

physical store.

“Shoppers use the shopping cart for various reasons, only some of which connect directly to the purchase.”

The conclusion: Shoppers are using carts as wish lists. While it is likely that retailers already have Wish List functionality on their websites,

it is equally likely that customers are simply not using them, opting instead to just store products in the cart. Our recommendation for

retailers, therefore, is to make sure that shopping carts stay cookied for longer periods of time, and that Add/Remove functions are

clearly labeled and easy to use. It is also a good idea to make product attributes – size, color, quantity – easily customizable within the

cart itself.

SAVING ITEMS FOR LATER

Researchers found that shoppers among all three groups occasionally use their shopping carts to save items for later.

However, a majority of shoppers who make a purchase at least once a month (the frequent and occasional shoppers)

were likely to do so every time they shop.

The conclusion: The ability to save items in an online shopping cart for later review is an important one for online

businesses. So, retailers are encouraged to keep items in a customer’s cart, even if they leave the website. Customers

are using the cart as a research device, so forcing them to search for the products all over again and put them back

into the cart is not a good idea.

Shoppers might want to postpone their purchases to read reviews and compare prices before making a final purchase

decision, so let them do that. Just make it easy for them to pick up where they left off. And, as we said in the last

conclusion, it’s important to make Add/Remove/Edit functions as easy as possible.

SUMMARIZING POTENTIAL PURCHASE DECISIONS

The study found that roughly 55% of frequent shoppers always

use their shopping cart to help make the final decision about

what or what not to purchase. That is, they use the shopping

cart as a staging area, where they can compare products side-

by-side. Add to that the infrequent shoppers group, where

fully 38% reported that they use the shopping cart in this

manner, and we can easily see that almost all shoppers -- 83%

-- use their shopping cart not just to purchase items, but also to

put them in one place for simultaneous viewing and decision-

making.

“The ability to save itemsin an online shopping cartfor later review is animportant one for onlinebusinesses.”

Now, of course, maybe this is just semantics, because what matters is total conversion in the end: if a customer is

not buying an item, then they are not buying an item; it does not matter if it is attributable to the shopping cart or

to the Wish List.

However, in order to truly get an understanding of what your shopping cart abandonment rate is, make sure that

the control data is as accurate as possible from the beginning. Calculating your abandonment rate by including

products that are only in the shopping cart because shoppers don’t know where else to keep them, is likely skewing

your statistics. Promoting Wish Lists will help to create a fairer starting point for your data set, so that, at the very least,

you’ll have filtered out the chaff, and can begin to get a better understanding of true cart abandonment.

Wish Lists can do a lot more than shopping carts, too. Your customers can set reminders for particular events

(birthdays, payday, etc.), have those reminders sent to herself in email, and more. Wish lists provide consumers with

more control over their purchases, while giving marketers a unique and useful way to engage with customers. And,

highlighting wish lists could give you a better picture of what your real cart abandonment challenge looks like.

PROMOT YOUR WISH LIST

Some customers aren’t planning to buy

right away, but want to build a wish list

for future purchases. The study indicates

frequent shoppers do so about 82% of the

time, while 49% of infrequent shoppers

reported that they use the shopping cart

as a wish list.

The conclusion: Separate wish list apps

can significantly reduce an online store’s

shopping cart abandonment, because

shoppers won’t be using their cart as their

wish lists. If offered, a little over 70% of all

respondents would either use a wish list

exclusively or along with a shopping cart.

At the time of the study, only about 9% of all consumers saved an item in their shopping cart to view it on a different device later. However, it’s clear that this number will continue to steadily and rapidly increase as smartphones and tablets continue in popularity and challenge the usefulness of a desktop.

The percentage increases to 19% for frequent shoppers who are more likely to own a mobile device. What’s certainly true is that customers use mobile applications more for discovery, awareness, and research, and less for actual purpose. The reason? Probably because it’s easier to type personal information and credit card details on a desktop, which has a full keyboard.

VIEWING ON DIFFERENT DEVICES

The conclusion: It’s essential that all ecommerce

sites be optimized for not only desktop but for

mobile. CrossChannel (or Multi-Channel) cart

functionality is already a very useful capability,

and will only become more necessary going

forward.

What this means is that a customer who views

a product for research on their mobile device

while commuting on the train and then logs onto

their desktop to buy it hours later, still has that

item in their cart, ready for purchase. This multi-

channel capability is essential to lowering cart

abandonment.

9% of consumers reported using their shopping cart on a mobile device to view items while actually inside the

retailer’s physical store. However, this is likely due to the fact that many companies don’t have an easy to use mobile

app or their mobile design is not responsive. As retail app availability increases, the number of people using mobile

apps and mobile for web inside physical stores as they prepare to purchase will certainly only increase.

It’s also worth noting that almost 60% of frequent shoppers already use their mobile devices to find saved information

about products in a physical store.

The conclusion: If you run both online and offline retail stores, make sure your UX on mobile –whether it’s on an app

or just responsive – to merge the two shopping experiences seamlessly.

While marketers are often worried that cart abandonment follow up emails may seem intrusive or “Big

Brother-like,” the data suggests otherwise. In fact, almost half of all respondents stated that a follow up email

after they left a full shopping cart behind would be helpful.

Keep in mind that a little over 50% of all respondents do not expect any sort of follow up from a business after they

abandon their shopping cart, so it’s best to understand that many customers will be likely be surprised to receive

emails like these.

The study also found that the timing of a company’s follow up is as important as whether or not it’s sent at all. In

fact, customers waiting for follow-up expected it to come no fewer than 24 hours after they had abandoned their

carts. However, the researchers emphasize that there is no “magic hour” to send a follow up email. Instead,

they suggest experimenting with several different time periods to see which is most successful for your unique

situation.

Finally, the study found that roughly 60% of all customers would be likely to return to a store’s website if they

received a shopping cart abandonment reminder email. Frequent and occasional shoppers were more likely to

actually complete an order at that point.

Over 50% of all customers were likely to complete a purchase if the email contained information about discounts

or sales on their selected items. While this is unsurprising, it does emphasize the important point that the content

of these follow up emails is also a factor in their success, and personalizing this content will go a long ways to

ensuring that sales conversion happens.

FOLLOWING UP AFTER ABANDONMENT

Although shopping cart abandonment will always remain a challenge for online retailers, the insights revealed

by this study show that there a lot of things a retailer can do to curb the trend. They show that consumers are

generally open to completing purchases via a shopping cart if allowed to use it as they see fit, and especially if

they receive some incentive for doing so.

We’d be happy to show you how to turn these study results into actionable insights and profits to help you

prevent and manage shopping cart abandonment and increase sales.

FOLLOWING THROUGH

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