subject: 4 Significant Shopping Cart Abandonment Tips [print this page] One thing all ecommerce merchants/websites deal with is shopping cart abandonment issues. As ecommerce merchants, we know one thing we can do to take things to the next level and make our ecommerce stores more successful is decrease shopping cart abandonment rates. It is known throughout the industry that about 90% of all online shoppers abandon shopping carts in their first visit to a website. That is 90% of all visitors!
What are some things you can do to decrease these crazy rates to make sure conversions are better on your website?
1) Display Shipping & Tax Rates: Many of those who shop online want to know how much they will pay, final price, by the time they are about to checkout. Many websites do not display shipping rates and tax rates prominently on their websites thus causing buyers to stall on their purchase. Try to display shipping rates and taxes (if applicable) in your product pages.
2) Credibility Logos: If you look at the largest websites, at the bottom or top they display logos from PayPal, SSL certificates, McAfee, etc. These tend to have a real sense of credibility to users and can go a long way with giving first time shoppers a real sense of trust with your website. Get as many credibility logos as possible. They also tend to look nice on your website.
3) Phone Number and Live Chat: Is it very easy for first time customers to find contact information on your website? If a customer sees it is hard to find contact information, they'll leave right away! Make sure you set up an 800 number and put it in every part of your website. The same goes with live chat which many live chat software is now offered free. Again, this gives online consumers a sense of trust and credibility.
4) Limit Checkout Fields: Don't ask for more information than necessary! The more fields, the less the conversion tends to happen. This is a fact. Only ask for information that your system needs in order to complete the order and charge the customer.
If you don't have any of these 4 elements already in place, go ahead and implement them as you should see a decrease in shopping cart abandonment.
