How many times have you been browsing a website and filled up your basket with all the items you desire, only to change your mind and click away from the website?

 

That’s basket abandonment!

 

This is not an irregular occurrence either. Coremetrics/IBM found that 67% of online shoppers abandon their basket without completing the journey through to payment and a study by moberce found that mobile devices have the highest abandonment rates at 88%.

 

All these abandoned purchases are costing UK retailers an estimated £1.02 billion worth of online shopping transactions, according to Experian.

 

So, why are customers abandoning their basket?

 

A survey by Econsultancy and TolunaQuick found that the most popular reasons for abandoning a basket were: needing to register before buying (26%), prices were too high (49%), technical problems (44%) and finally, high delivery charges (75%).

 

Once consumers have reached the checkout stage, the top 5 issues deterring shoppers from completing the purchase are: lack of contact details (33%), lengthy process (37%), technical problems or slow loading pages (44%), concerns about payment security (58%) and hidden charges (71%).

 

Although basket abandonment is unavoidable, there are key steps you can take to optimise the checkout process, improve the customer purchase journey and boost your conversion rate.

 

Here are 5 key ways that you can give basket abandonment the boot!

 

Allow users to save items in their basket for later

 

Don’t send your shoppers all the way back to square 1 if they do leave your website and their basket. Instead, offer the option to store their items in the basket or save them for later. This will enable them to easily review their basket at a later date and continue with their purchase process. By making it easier to pick up where they left off, the user could return at any time to complete the purchase. 

 

Remind users about their items with automated emails

 

Automated emails are an easy way to remind customers about their basket and create a sense of urgency about buying the products they may otherwise miss out on. You could take the opportunity to send customers a time-sensitive ‘free delivery’ or ‘10% off’ code to help drive them to purchase before the offer runs out. However, it is important to be savvy with the number of offers you share as consumers are becoming aware of the tactics brands are using to increase conversions. Moberce found that 15% of shoppers who abandon their basket are doing so deliberately with the knowledge that they could receive a discount to complete the purchase.

 

Understand your user’s browsing and buying behaviour

 

A Customer Relationship Management systems could help you to understand your customers and recognise their behaviour on your site and across different devices. This information could provide you with insights into how visitors have previously behaved.

 

For example, do they only convert on mobile or desktop? Do they only convert with vouchers or at certain times of day? A better understanding of your customers will enable you to respond and tailor your payment process appropriately to encourage conversion.

 

Be upfront with your payment and delivery methods

 

Remove friction from the purchase process by clearly stating the different payment and delivery methods you offer. Some customers might prefer to store card details, whilst others won’t, or they may typically use PayPal rather than a credit card. By offering a number of different payment options, shoppers can tailor their purchase experience to meet their needs. Similarly, it is essential that you provide your customers with clear delivery costs and timescales. Ensure customers have the option for standard shipping or express delivery with all costs and estimated timescales stated. Omitting this information is likely to irritate customers and drive them to abandon or choose a competitor instead.

 

Shout about your payment security

 

Provide your customers with easily accessible information about the payment security you offer in order to create confidence in shopping with your business. By positioning your business as conscientious and reliable, you will give customers the assurance they may need to proceed with their purchase. This could be as simple as including security certificates on the payment page to offer customers a visual indicator of the level of protection.

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