Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest sales events to hit our calendars every year. Every online retailer wants a piece of the gigantic billion dollar pie.

So, if you’ve been meaning to get around to addressing your high cart abandonment rates, now is a very good time to start (and quickly).

Here are 11 ways to reduce cart abandonment rates on your online store.

1. Keep shipping costs down

High shipping costs are cited as one of the main reasons Australian shoppers abandon shopping carts, and it’s the primary reason for cart abandonment in other major markets, too. Free shipping can increase sales by at least 10%.

Of course, offering free shipping usually means increasing prices by about as much as shipping costs on average. But the psychology of shipping being ‘free’ vs a surprise at checkout could help ‘items in cart’ move through to ‘checkout’.

2. Create a positive website experience

If a website is tough to use, then shoppers are more likely to abandon their carts. Research from Hubspot says 57% of potential shoppers abandon their cart if a page takes more than three seconds to load. Also, if a website is difficult to use or has outdated information, shoppers may lose trust in following through with the purchase.

Take some time to analyse your website experience through the lens of your shoppers’ and take note of how quickly the pages load, how easy it is to browse, and how many clicks does it take to checkout (the less clicks, the better).

3. Make sure your site is trustworthy

If your payment system looks outdated or glitches, it doesn’t leave shoppers feeling all that confident about giving you their card details and mailing address. Eway’s advanced cybersecurity for payments help with making sure your systems are trustworthy and efficient.

3D Secure 2.0 offered by Eway improves your business revenue by removing authorisation hoops for repeat or low risk customers to streamline the checkout experience.

4. Keep items in stock

Shoppers are far more likely to abandon their carts after realising the item they wanted is not in stock. The answer to this is a combination of website management and stock management.

You should make it clear when an item is not in stock a customer gets to the stage of placing it in their basket. Instead, provide a way for them to request to be notified via email when the item is back in stock. A more long-term solution is to avoid key items being out of stock with smart stock control and inventory management.

Read more: How a PIM system will automate your online inventory

5. Offer discounts

Offering a 10% off code is a common blanket discount strategy for many online stores. But if you don’t offer that discount, some savvy shoppers intentionally abandon their cart hoping to receive a discount through targeted ads or follow up email in the next 24 hours. 

You can lean into this retargeting strategy by sending ‘nudge’ emails with a discount code within 24 hours of cart abandonment. Once you get the sale, make sure you focus on employing tactics to get that customer to re-purchase.

6. Make saving a cart easy

Many shoppers who are browsing, using carts to make lists, or simply hunting bargains, could be back within a few hours or days.

To encourage them to return, make saving the cart an easy option. This reduces the friction of making them go back and building up their cart again. Shoppers will be more likely to remember their choice and to return to your shop later to complete their purchase. Even better, offering shoppers can click on a link in the follow-up email that takes them directly to their saved cart!

7. Include a progress indicator at checkout

Including a progress indicator at checkout helps your shoppers understand how long the process will take. With the stages in front of them, they are more likely to finish the transaction and not leave you with another abandoned cart.

Redsbaby online user portal

Eway customer Redsbaby makes it easy for the shopper to see the three steps required to place an order.

8. Make sure payment is frictionless

There’s nothing worse than being convinced you want to buy something and then for some reason, the payment isn’t going through, the system is clunky or you aren’t convinced it’s secure enough to enter your details. Don’t let your payment experience cost you the sale. To avoid this, you can use Eway’s payment gateway to offer totally frictionless payment options.

Allowing shoppers to pay through digital wallets like Click to Pay and Apple Pay, or Real Time card payments to reduce the time and number of clicks it takes to actually make a payment.

9. Offer multiple payment options

While credit and debit cards are one of the most common online payment methods, you can make life easier for your customers by providing them with greater payment options — such as digital wallets.

With Eway’s digital wallet suite expanding, you’re able to provide enhanced security and a better payment experience to your customers while reducing cart abandonment rates with a faster checkout process.

Read more: Why your business should accepting digital wallets

You should also make sure card payment options encompass as many card providers as possible — if a customer moves to buy something and finds that American Express is not accepted, they might well move on to a site where it is.

10. Offer guest checkout options

Shoppers want convenience, and being able to checkout quickly with instant results is needed. It’s important to analyse your entire checkout process to notice any points of friction. One thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t force first time shoppers to create an account with your business before they complete the order.

Instead, make sure you offer ‘guest checkout’ as an option. By allowing shoppers to check out as guests means they can click straight through to payment without the hassle of signing up. While you miss out on adding them to your email list, you’re reducing the risk of them abandoning their cart — so which is more important to you?

11. Work on your call to action

There should be a strong call to action when moving from cart to checkout — such as ‘Buy Now’ options with minimal clicks needed. For example, combining ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Checkout Now’ with a totally frictionless payment experience using Eway can increase conversion rates. With less time to reconsider, your shoppers are far more likely to complete a purchase.

These are just a few ways to reduce cart abandonment on your site. Make sure to think about your site as a whole when engaging with an abandoned cart issue. Every element of the shopping experience has an impact. That being said, a smooth checkout process is particularly effective in encouraging conversion from cart to a sale. This is where Eway comes in, get in touch with our team today.

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