How to Improve Shopping Cart Abandonment by Tackling Checkout Abandonment?

According to some estimates, up to 70% of online shoppers who add items to their shopping carts abandon the page before completing their purchases.

That is a concerning statistic for anyone involved in eCommerce. Worse, abandoned carts have far-reaching consequences for online retailers. Cart abandonment, for example, skews data and lowers conversion rates. It also raises the cost of acquiring new customers.

That is why it is worthwhile to investigate the causes that force people to abandon their carts and the steps you can take to address the issue.

How to calculate shopping cart abandonment?

To determine the cart abandonment rate, you need to divide the total number of completed purchases by the total number of carts created and subtract it from 1.

For example, if 500 carts were created on your eCommerce website and 100 purchases were made, your shopping cart abandonment rate will be 80%.

Here is how we arrived at this percentage:

The goal of this calculation is to determine how to reduce cart abandonment and increase revenue.

When the customer leaves the online shopping process differentiates shopping cart abandonment from checkout abandonment. Understanding where drop-offs occur (cart abandonment, checkout abandonment, or both) is essential for developing strategies to address both issues.

This blog discusses ten strategies for proactively reducing shopping cart abandonment and addressing some easy-to-solve checkout abandonment issues.

Recommended Read: How Can Customised Checkout Solutions Prove Revolutionary For Your Brand?

4 ways to reduce checkout abandonment & overcome shopping cart abandonment

Checkout abandonment is an area that every eCommerce business should pay close attention to if they wish to identify any issues that can be addressed to provide customers with a more seamless checkout experience. This is one of those aspects where correcting even one step in the checkout process can have a significant impact on sales.

The most effective way to lower checkout abandonment is to optimise your checkout process for efficiency and convenience.

Here are 4 ways in which you can optimise your checkout process to reduce checkout abandonment which will ultimately result in lower shopping cart abandonment rates.

1. Optimise the checkout process to deliver a seamless payment experience

Customers value a smooth, simple, and convenient user experience and interface. Provide them with a high-performing product, a user-friendly interface, and an optimised process to make their purchase quick and easy.

There are numerous methods for optimising checkout abandonment, and you should most likely be addressing a combination of these at varying levels as they impact your business. The following are some suggestions for optimising the checkout process to stop users from abandoning their shopping carts:

• It is critical to have a convenient, simple, and trusted checkout process to reduce checkout fears and build credibility.
• Instead of forcing users to sign up or create an account, simply collect their email addresses during checkout. It will assist you in identifying and connecting with your consumers, allowing you to follow up regardless if they abandon or make a purchase.
• Having a safe, secure checkout process that accurately detects fraud aids in the development of customer trust.
• Provide them with the information they require at various stages and direct them to the purchase with a captivating and no-nonsense UX.
• The customer journey from browsing a product and selecting to purchasing should be as short as possible. Analyse purchase funnels thoroughly to find areas that are slowing users down, then trim the excess to make the process easier for customers.
• The earlier users receive information, the less likely they are to abandon a purchase later on. Show any additional costs such as taxes, shipping, etc., currency exchange, stock and availability, and estimated delivery dates for purchases. By providing this information to the user early on in the checkout process, you avoid alienating potential buyers.
• Offering as many payment options as possible, with the most popular payment methods should be prioritised first. Potential buyers are more likely to make a purchase when they have the option to pay via their preferred payment methods.
• Allow customers to save their carts when they abandon them if possible, or establish an auto-save function. This allows people who abandoned their checkout to return and change their minds, thereby reducing drop-offs.
• Send post-purchase payment summaries to ensure that the customer’s experience is clear, straightforward, and enjoyable; this can encourage them to return. Consider using a similar strategy with people who have abandoned their purchase. Send a follow-up email outlining the sale and demonstrating the lost value.

2. Send notifications and reminders to bring prospective consumers back

You will need to understand your purchase funnel and the strategy behind it to successfully trigger consumers during checkout, when they are abandoning, or after they have abandoned checkout.

Once that is clear, examine the behavioural analytics of the purchase funnel to determine where users are leaving.

Determine the leaks, prioritise the biggest drop-offs, and extract ways to improve checkout abandonment rates from here.

Consider prompting consumers with a popup that asks them about their exit intent to understand the reasons they are leaving and incorporating the feedback into future iterations.

Consider auto-saving abandoned carts so that consumers can pick up where they left off.

Connect your consumers to customer support if current tactics are failing for no apparent reason. This may solve the problem or at the very least, it may draw your attention to an issue present in the purchase funnel.

Customers may contact customer support if they are trapped in the funnel or are unable to make a purchase. Collect feedback from the team and prioritise issues based on severity.

3. Send emails to those who had abandoned checkouts

This is where customer emails come in handy.

It means that you can send emails to prospective customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. To make it easier for them to return to the checkout process, ask them if they would like to pick up their cart and continue where they left off.

If you do not want to appear pushy, ask them the reason for abandoning their purchase. This can give you valuable insight into how to improve your purchase process to decrease checkout abandonment for the subsequent customer.

4. If all else fails, provide a discount for abandoned checkouts.

Despite all of your efforts, some consumers will abandon their shopping carts. If there are no other options, consider providing a discount to customers to secure the sale. While you will suffer a minor setback, it may be preferable to miss out.

You should try email recovery first, but if you’ve tried everything and still haven’t gotten anywhere, consider giving a discount to seal the deal.

This is also a good place to ask the user to create an account or register, which could bring them back and convert this offer into a purchase. For example, you can offer customers a discount for registering or creating an account.

Recommended Read: Paytm All-in-One SDK Provides Your Customers with Fastest Checkout Experience

On a concluding note

Paytm Payment Gateway provides excellent checkout solutions that can be integrated with your online store to create a seamless checkout experience that is quick and efficient for the customer.

Paytm Payment Gateway strives to offer modern payment solutions that perform better, make the checkout process extra delightful for the customer, and enable businesses to minimise checkout and shopping cart abandonment and recover lost revenue from customers.

Get Paytm Payment Gateway today!