subject: 10 Tips to Decrease Abandoned Shopping Carts [print this page] 10 Tips to Decrease Abandoned Shopping Carts
Abandoned shopping carts are a big problem for online merchants. It is estimated that 65% of consumers interrupt the payment process and this represents many lost sales. Here are 10 tips to help you decrease the number of abandoned shopping carts.
1. Page Download Speed - Most shoppers will not wait more than 10 seconds for your page to download. Do not fill your page with too many images and if you have graphics, make sure they are compressed.
2. Navigation - Your site needs to be easy to navigate. Remember the goal is to have customers move through your site easily. Put BUY tabs on each page, have an index, and don't put extra features and links that the customer does not want.
3. Just the Facts - All the product offers need to have clear and straight-to-the-point wording and provide all the sales terms upfront, not at the end of the buying process.
4. Availability - As soon as a customer clicks on the BUY button for a particular product, he needs to know if it is in stock. He will get angry if he learns this at checkout.
5. Shipping Costs - 72% of potential customers that do not buy do so because of the high shipping costs.At the beginning of the ordering process, include all the extras: shipping, taxes, and other charges. Consider offering free shipping for a minimum purchase.
6. Registration - Many people simply do not want you to have you keep their information or to register for anything. 34% of potential buyers abandon their shopping carts because of this. It would be wise to offer a guest purchase option.
7. Payment Options - You need to show your payment options along the way and not just at checkout. Also, display trusted symbols, like a security certificate or the BBB logo.
8. Additional Offers - When the customer is about to leave, remind him he is about to do just that and make an offer, like a discount on the products he has in his shopping cart. That may be just the extra push he needs to complete the sale.
9. Keep the Process Short and Simple - The sale routine needs to be short before the customer has time to rethink the purchase or get frustrated at the length of time and leave. 41% of buyers will leave if the checkout process is too long, so that needs to be short as well. Another 27% of buyers will leave if the checkout process is complicated, so keep it simple.
10. Minimize Distractions - On shopping cart pages, don't put banner ads or other distractions from the buying process. A blinking ad can break the shopper's concentration.
