The smart way to eliminate an abandoned shopping cart
Shopping cart abandonment is one of the most significant metrics tracked by ecommerce sites.
According to the Baymard Institute abandonment rates generally shake out to be between 60 and 80% with an average of 67.91%.
Moving the dial a few points one way or the other can make or break a quarter. So ecommerce sites are always trying new tricks to gain some sort of advantage.
The problem is that they only know what they know. So the solutions they come up with are generally separated into two categories: complicated technical tricks and more complicated technical tricks.
This would be great if we lived in the world of 2010. But most online shoppers are a lot more savvy than we give them credit for.
Some of the reasons people give up on a cart include:
- Complicated checkout process.
- Hidden prices that come out at the time of checkout, like taxes or high shipping charge.
- Tough or lengthy registration process. No option to check-out without signing up.
- Limited payment options.
Hubspot has a great infographic with their 8 reasons.
But the main reason is that it’s just too easy to chicken out at the register.
Print materials have a different impact. (Just read the recent neuroscience conducted by Canada Post in their white paper “A Bias for Action”). A variable data print marketing piece can include extreme customization, as well as offers based on data pulled from an existing customer digital experience history and profile.
If somebody is buying a bucket seat for a baby, it’s a safe bet they’ll be looking for a bigger seat in about 9 to 12 months. And a booster seat 18 months after that.
If a retailer knows the shopping patterns of a client they can market directly to them — without depending on cookies or ads that are blocked by a growing number of people, anyway.
Shopping cart abandonment is a big problem. But the solution isn’t necessarily found by using more online technology. It’s found in the intelligent use of data you already have, to predict the buying cycle of your clients and get your message out of their inbox and into their hands.