10 tips to turn abandoned shopping carts into revenue

Businesses are going online at a fast rate. With a world population of over 7 billion people, according to Internet World Stats, over 4 billion of this population use the internet and out of the 7 world regions Africa is ranked at number 3 following Asia and Europe.

Based on these statistics, it’s not rocket science to comprehend why all businesses should have an e-commerce website! Cart abandonment is one of the major challenges that result in loss of sales, with a current worldwide online shopping cart abandonment rate reported to be sitting at 69.23% and said to be growing.

We tackle 10 reasons why web visitors leave the web page before completing their desired action and ways to reduce and avoid this revenue killer. We also asked our customers via social media what makes them abandon their carts, see what they had to say on selected comments below.

1. Up Your Speed Game

Customers get very frustrated when a website takes forever to load. This is simply because the main reason they’re shopping online in the first place is to save time. Thus, customers expect the purchasing process, all the way down to check out to be fast and uncomplicated.

Make sure your website performance speed is optimized to grant the customer smooth shopping experience. The recommended average loading speed is 3 seconds, stick to this and witness those carts make it through the finishing line.

2. The Cart and Store Navigation Must Be Painless

A complicated browsing experience can agitate the customer. While shopping, the customer wants to be able to see the cart so it’s easy for them to drop and remove items as they wish. This is like having a shopping bag or basket at a brick and mortar store. Keeping your cart accessible at the right corner could just be enough motivation for the customer to complete their sale.

3. Seeing is Believing

Show images of all products at check-out to reassure the customer of their purchases – customers like to see that they have picked the correct item colour or size as they check-out. Unlike customers at a physical store, online customers can’t touch, feel and fit the items, so visuals always tell a better story. Add as much product photos from all angles as you can, using high-resolution quality images. Add an option for customers to zoom in on the product images.    

4. Provide a Guest Check Out Option

Asking a customer to create a new user account can cause a lot of annoyance. Customers want to finalise their purchase and get out of the store. Naturally, businesses want to make a sale. Don’t miss a sales opportunity due to unnecessary data capturing. Provide the customer with options. If they want to spend extra time signing up, they will.

5. Return Policy

By virtue of the fact that online shoppers can’t touch and feel the products they purchase online, product quality isn’t always easy to assess. It is only fair to offer your prospects an easy and free return solution with a money-back guarantee. Craft a fair return policy and make sure store terms and conditions, including return policy are clearly visible at check out.

Creating easy access for anybody in Africa, Pargo offers a seamless returns system, allowing customers to return their products at one of over 2000 pick-up points.

6. Live Chats

Make use of live chat plugins and virtual customer service. At some point some customers get stuck while pondering around the web store trying to figure things out, right at this moment you can pop in with a probing question, showing the customer that they are not alone at the online store.

A virtual customer service assists the customer in completing their purchasing process, subtle product suggestions can be made too, and quick solutions to their queries can be provided. Communication always plays a vital role, this is like giving your visuals a voice.

7. Avoid Unexpected Shipping Costs

Undisclosed shipping costs may jeopardise the sale proceedings. If you leave extra cost such as delivery, tax, surcharges and additional fees until the end of the payment stage, the customer may be left disappointed and may leave the shopping page immediately, leaving an abandoned cart. Be upfront about the total cost of the products and allow the shopper to view all costs immediately as they drop items into the cart.

Last mile logistics company Pargo offers a delivery flat rate nationwide, regardless of where the delivery is collected from and couriered to. This flat rate has put our partners at ease of knowing that shipping costs remain standard across geographical regions. Alternatively, offer free shipping on items exceeding a certain amount, this encourages customers to purchase more items.

8. Call to Action (CTA)

CTA’s are the guidance that puts visitors at ease. They assist them to understand what they should do next. There’s nothing like getting stuck online, especially for the technically challenged – leading the way for your online visitors, will get you converting visitors to leads at a much quicker rate.

CTA’s like “learn more”, to give the visitor more information about the product or “find out when we have more” are subtle ways of getting your visitors to create a new user account as they may be interested to know when that one product they’ve been looking for is available and back in stock.

9. Convenient delivery options

Delivery options available at check-out can determine whether the consumer will ultimately complete their online purchase or abandon the cart. Today’s shoppers expect innovation and convenience. Offering a whole portfolio of delivery options is something every internet retailer needs to seriously consider, it instils confidence in your brand and gives power to the consumer.

Some consumers prefer their orders delivered to their home. Those who live a busy life appreciate the option of knowing they can pick up their orders anywhere convenient to them via the Click and Collect option at Pick-Up Points near them. Other customers appreciate the Collect in Store option, which comes with added benefits to both customers and businesses. Customers score free delivery and have the opportunity to return items at the same time, businesses can up-sell and cross-sell and build rapport with customers.

An online retailer not offering home delivery, click and collect and collect in store delivery options, are throwing a great amount of revenue away! Pargo offers all three delivery options at a flat rate nationwide to retailers regardless of where the order is delivered to or collected from.

10. Clear Company Contact Information

Internet fraud is something that every internet user is wary of. A potential customer, especially one who has never used your products or services may want to get in touch with your store first to learn more about your product offering. It is vital that the about us and the contact information displayed on your website is clear. Having a social media presence is an added bonus. This way you will build trust with your online shoppers.

Trading online also means that you always have to be one step ahead of your website visitors. Retargeting shopping cart abandoners is one way of doing this, bringing your prospects back to the cart they’ve abandoned to finish off their shopping.  Retargeting is basically dropping pixels and cookies in the browser’s PC in order to show them the items they left behind as soon as they go into a different website.

As an affordable last mile logistics service with designated returns solution and countrywide coverage, we are in a privileged position to help you optimise your abandoned cart metric. Please contact us to help you work out customised solutions.