E-commerce: Most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment

What are the real reasons for an abandoned cart in an E-Commerce?

Statistics published by the Baymard Institute show that the shopping cart abandonment rate is 75.00%.

This is a really high percentage that leads us to reflect on what are the real reasons that lead customers not to conclude the order on the E-Store.

The consequences of shopping cart abandonment results in a loss of revenue.

In this post we analyze what it really means to abandon the cart in an E-Commerce and what are the real reasons.

Let’s find out what are the effective solutions to reduce the rate of abandonment of the shopping cart.
Feeling ready to get started? Perfect, then read on with this guide.

E-Commerce abandoned shopping cart: what does it mean?

Leaving the shopping cart means that a user does not complete the purchase of the desired product.
This means that there is a failure to optimize the purchase page and stop a Customer Journey.

The Customer Trip or Customer Journey consists of all the steps and points of contact that each customer has with the brand or seller.

It is important to leverage emotional marketing and structure a unique shopping experience.

Digital marketers need to be able to structure a Customer Journey in such a way that the potential customer can experience a linear process.

Every user who decides to place an online order follows these steps:

inquires,
compares prices,
chooses the products to buy,
puts the products in the cart,
concludes the purchase.

How do I measure shopping cart abandonment rate?

You don’t have to be a mathematician to measure the shopping cart abandonment rate in an E-Commerce.
Here is a simple and immediate formula:

Shopping cart abandonment rate: Number of views of the “Purchase Process” / Number of views page “cart with products”.

Here’s an example of a calculation:

number of views of the “Purchase Process” page : 500
number of views page “basket with products”
% of Abandons Cart: (80 / 500 ) 100 plus 16%

Google Analytics: Where to find the cart abandonment rate?

If you’re using Google Analytics, follow this path:

Conversions -> E-commerce -> Buying Behavior.

You’ll find the abandonment rate of your E-Shop’s cart and you no longer have to use the calculator.

Now that you know how to quickly view the shopping cart abandonment rate, you need to take action to reduce it.

E-Commerce: Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate and Conversion Rate

We didn’t tell you that the shopping cart abandonment rate is linked to the conversion rate of an E-Shop.

What is this measure?

An E-Store conversion rate measures the number of sales in relation to the number of visits.

If you manage to increase sales, decreasing the shopping cart abandonment rate, the conversion rate also increases.

Easy to tell but not to do!

For this, you have to probe what can be the real reasons that drive a user to abandon the cart.

#1. Having to create an account to complete the purchase

A first motivation for users to leave their E-Store cart is to have to register and create a new account.
In most cases, online forms to register your account consist of too many fields.

Users expect efficiency, speed, and simplicity when they shop online.

Having to fill in too many fields or answer unnecessary questions leads customers to close the E-Commerce page.

#2. Unsafe payment methods

If the payment methods are not secure and unreliable, in most cases users will permanently abandon the cart.
To be efficient, an E-Commerce site must transmit confidence in the user.

# 3. Extra costs and unexpected costs

A bad surprise? Unexpected costs? Extra commissions?

The user will abandon the transaction and will not complete the purchase.

# 4. Shopping cart for buying research

Very often the E-Commerce shopping cart is used by users to compare prices.

Yes, but how to convert leads into real customers?

# 5. No promotions, coupons, discounts, etc.

No welcome bonuses? No discounts and gifts? In most cases the user will leave the cart.

Discounts, promotions and extra codes are the customers’ preferred marketing tools.
Even if a product is not indispensable, in most cases users conclude the order.
It’s the customer’s psychology!

# 6. Technical errors

It is possible that the shopping cart returns some technical errors.

From recent digital marketing research it emerged that about 20% of customers leave the cart for hateful error messages that prevent to complete purchases.

# 7. Lack of compatibility with smartphones and tablets

Who among us doesn’t travel with a smartphone or notebook?

Electronic devices are our “life allies”: most users end purchases directly from smartphones, which are becoming increasingly decisive for E-Stores.

Device-friendly E-Commerce is a powerful marketing tool that allows you to increase the number of sales and turnover.

# 8. Terms of return unclear

Buying a product online is a “mystery”, not always sure that it can meet our professional needs.

For this reason, users prefer to complete a transaction directly from the E-Stores with clear and transparent returns.
Amazon’s success is linked to a clear and deceptive return procedure.

# 9. Confusing checkout

We have decided to conclude a purchase on E-Commerce, but unfortunately we realize that there are infinite steps and pop-ups that hinder us.

The various pages can lead users to abandon the shopping cart.

How to reduce the shopping cart abandonment rate?

Is there an effective solution to reduce the shopping cart abandonment rate?

The strategies to increase sales in an E-Store are truly innumerable.

Test your E-commerce, improve SEO, send discount codes to the most loyal customers, reduce shipping costs and optimize the E-store for mobile devices.

In one word: configure a plugin that allows you to retrieve the abandoned shopping cart entry in WordPress.