Customer who shop, but don’t buy online. What can you do about that?

Published on 07/09/2015 in Be inspired

Every web merchant knows this phenomenon: your customers load their virtual shopping carts, but at the last moment they decline to buy anything. Why is that? And what can you do about it?

Customer who shop, but don’t buy online. What can you do about that?

Web conversions – making sure a filled online shopping cart is also bought – is very difficult and the reasons for that are the subject of a lot of research. Some explanations are very straightforward: the huge general increase in ecommerce also means an increase in abandoned shopping carts. The rise of mobile devices also plays its part. Customers like to visit web shops on their smartphone or tablet, but actually paying via their device is taking it one step too far. The shopping cart is also increasingly used as a shopping list or simply for reasons of price comparison. Eventually, many of the sales are later performed offline, in-store.

Why are shopping carts abandoned?

A worldwide survey conducted by Worldpay, a US-based provider of electronic payment services, shows us some remarkable and very specific reasons why people choose to abandon their shopping cart at the last instance:

  • 56% of respondents said they were confronted with unexpected charges at the end of the transaction: administrative charges, taxes, delivery, etc.
  • 37% indicates they were just looking around without the intent to buy anything
  • about 25% decides not to buy because the design of the web site is making it difficult for them: troublesome navigation, site that isn’t working properly, payment process that takes too long and exaggerated security checks are often cited as barriers to complete the purchase

What can you do about that?

1    Make buying clear and easy

Always communicate extra charges as early as possible in the buying process. Give your customers a variety of payment options, not only credit cards, but also debit cards and even bank transfers.

2    User-friendly design

Your site’s design should be adapted to its shopping purpose. Make sure payment is done as quickly as possible. Only ask your customers to fill in the most essential details needed for the transaction. A lot of buyers want to check the product information one last time from within the payment section. Make sure this happens in a pop-up, so they aren’t transferred away from the payment page.

3    Talk to your customers

You can get in touch with customers who’ve abandoned a shopping cart. Technically, this is even possible when they are still on your site, with a special algorithm that detects intentions to leave. You can also approach them via Facebook or Google retargetting and perhaps even offer a special discount, although it’s best not to go overboard with that strategy. And a final way to get in touch is with a personalised email. To do this, make sure the email address is one of the first items the customer has to fill in, and also ensure that the email address is stored immediately.

Proximus Bizz team

A team of more than 40 experts bringing independent entrepreneurs and small companies the best ideas and solutions for their needs.

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