Shopping cart abandonment has become a huge concern for many eCommerce merchants. In tracking visitors to their storefront, many have discovered that the sale was lost at the point where the consumer reached the shopping cart. So, why are they abandoning the cart and moving away altogether? This is something that every online merchant should understand in order to prevent future lost sales.
Collecting Data to Be Analyzed
The first thing you should do when trying to overcome shopping cart abandonment is analyze at which point in the checkout process they are leaving. It will take the right kind of analytics to accomplish this but with an automated analytics platform running in the background, that data is continually being collected and analyzed. A payment management system with this capability included in customized merchant services will enable you to determine why customers are abandoning sales.
Analyzing the Data Collected
There are things you can discover, even without surveying customers who have abandoned the shopping cart prior to payment. The right automated analytics platform will show obvious problems consumers are having. Since this kind of program will track their movements, it can be obvious that your card service, for example, is kicking shoppers back with flaws in their processes. It could be that shoppers leave at the point of choosing shipping methods. By tracking their movements through the payment process, it is fairly easy to see at which point you are losing them.
Email Follow-Up
Some merchants have their analytics set to retain information about items left in the cart at the point of abandonment. Emails can often be automated so a follow-up can be sent to visitors who left during the checkout process. Some of the larger companies will have emails sent advising consumers there is still something in their basket waiting to be completed and others will say those items are selling fast so hurry back. Each merchant can set their own email marketing strategy for the follow-ups, but none of this would be possible without a program that collects and retains data to be tracked.
The Most Common Reasons for Abandonment
In almost all customer surveys, consumers have cited the difficulty in completing checkout at the point where credit card information is entered. If it is too difficult to get that information entered and accepted, customers are liable to leave in frustration. Others have noted that they can’t find the shipping method they would like to choose, and others say the process is just too time consuming and confusing. For whatever reason, most find that the point of payment entry is difficult to complete so they move on to merchants that make it easier to check out.
Since eCommerce is growing exponentially in recent years, it behooves any online merchant to make the checkout process as easy as possible for customers. They may make it through this first time, but if the task is too difficult, most will look for other merchants that make the process easy for them to complete. Remember, in business the customer experience is everything, so to ensure a satisfied customer, make the checkout as easy and hassle-free as possible.
