photo of wire shopping cart abandoned in a parking lot

Your ads are getting lots of clicks. People are browsing your eCommerce site and happily adding products to their cart. Then — ouch! — they decide not to buy after all, leaving you frustrated by
low sales numbers.

What happened? Why did they leave before completing
their purchase?

Cart abandonment is an unfortunate part of eCommerce, but while there are many reasons customers change their minds, you can overcome objections and close more sales by following these tips.

  1. Don’t Require Users to Register

    Allowing people to make accounts with your eCommerce site promotes good customer service. Users can log in to check the status of an order, receive personalized recommendations, and easily request refunds. However, it’s not a good idea to force new customers to create an account before they buy.

    When people are checking out, credit card in hand, you don’t want to interrupt their journey down the sales funnel. It’s psychological: anything that distracts from their feeling of satisfaction as they make their purchase gives them room to pause. Perhaps they’ll wonder if they really need the product, or if they could get it cheaper somewhere else. If you make customers stop to create an account, you give them an excuse to abandon their cart.

    Instead, allow them to check out as a guest and create an account after they’ve made their purchase. Just collect their email address, then send them a link to register. This way, they can complete their
    purchase uninterrupted.

    Bonus Tip: To prevent returning customers who are registered users from abandoning, you can offer an “instant purchase” option as Amazon does. This helps lock in the “impulse buy.”

  1. Streamline the Checkout Process

    Customers want to complete their purchase quickly and get on with their lives. They also want to know that their payment information is handled securely and their order was placed successfully. Any hiccups in your eCommerce site’s checkout process, such as slow-loading pages or ambiguous security details, could cause people to abandon their carts.

    For example, if a customer adds several items to their cart and starts to check out, they want to see exactly what they’re buying, how much money they’ll be spending, and when the items will arrive. And they want all of that information to be delivered quickly. If your checkout process involves many pages, doesn’t load quickly, or omits key information about the purchase, customers’ confidence levels will plummet — and they’ll likely abandon their cart.

    Here are some tips for streamlining your checkout process:

    • Include thumbnail images of the products in the cart, along with quantity, price, etc.
    • Clearly display shipping costs and taxes.
    • Ensure that each page logically flows into the next and loads as quickly as possible.
    • Use progress indicators to show how close the customer is to completing their purchase.
    • Incorporate trust signals such as compliance seals and links to your refund policy.
    • Include social proof, such as recent purchases or customer reviews, to help customers feel
      more confident.

    Get more tips for optimizing your eCommerce site design.

  1. Use an Exit-Intent Pop-Up

    One of the chief reasons for cart abandonment is that customers develop objections as they’re about to check out. Perhaps the shipping costs are higher than they expected, or they look at their cart total and decide it’s too expensive. As they’re navigating away from your site, catch their attention with a pop-up that addresses these objections.

    For example, you could offer a discount or freebie to sweeten the deal. Use language that taps into FOMO (fear of missing out) to make the customer feel anxious about abandoning their cart. You can configure these pop-ups to appear whenever a user moves their mouse away from the tab. (Here are some ideas for special offers you can make.)

  1. Conclusion

    With careful design and development of your eCommerce site, you can guide your customers to the final page of your checkout process. The key is to overcome shoppers’ objections and minimize any obstacles so that their excitement and FOMO will drive them to the finish line. By providing your customers with a user-friendly experience, you’ll instill confidence and encourage them to finish
    their purchase.

    Need expert help building or optimizing your eCommerce site to decrease your cart abandonment rate? Dotlogics' web developers and eCommerce specialists are here to help.

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