Fighting Cart Abandonment: Quick Fixes That Keep Customers

Cart abandonment is a common and frustrating problem for e-commerce businesses. It occurs when potential customers add items to their online shopping cart but leave the site without completing the purchase, wasting their time and yours.

According to the Baymard Institute's 2021 study, the average cart abandonment rate across industries is 69.8%, meaning that a significant portion of potential sales is being lost at the final stage of the buying process. Another study by SaleCycle found that the global average cart abandonment rate in Q2 2020 was 74.52%. 

There are many reasons for cart abandonment, as we will discuss here. But all revolve around one factor: the ways to keep potential customers engaged need to be quantified and consistent, so that barriers to their engagement can be identified and addressed before they prove fatal to your sales.   

Fortunately, there are several quick fixes which businesses can implement to reduce cart abandonment and keep customers engaged throughout the checkout process. In this post, we'll explore these strategies and discuss how businesses using various hosting platforms can leverage plugins to combat cart abandonment effectively.

Understanding the Reasons for Cart Abandonment 

It's essential to understand the most common reasons why customers abandon their carts, when they have been with you up until then. The most frequently reported ones, which are common sense when you think about them, are:

1. High shipping costs: Unexpected or excessive shipping fees can deter customers from completing their purchases.
   
2. Complicated checkout process: A lengthy or confusing checkout process can frustrate customers and lead to abandonment.
   
3. Lack of trust: Customers may hesitate to provide personal and financial information if the website doesn't appear secure or trustworthy.
   
4. Limited payment options: Customers may abandon their carts if their preferred payment method isn't available.
   
5. Distractions and interruptions: Customers may simply get distracted or interrupted during the checkout process and forget to complete their purchase.

Quick Fixes to Reduce Cart Abandonment

For each of these main reasons for cart abandonment there is an actionable  quick fix which can help keep customers engaged and increase conversions. Specifically:

1. Be transparent about shipping costs: Clearly display shipping costs early in the checkout process to avoid surprising customers with unexpected fees. Consider offering free shipping thresholds or flat-rate shipping to simplify the process.
   
2. Simplify the checkout process: Streamline the checkout process by minimizing the number of steps and form fields required. Offer guest checkout options and save customer information for future purchases to make the process even more convenient.
   
3. Build trust and credibility: Ensure that your website has a professional design and includes trust signals such as SSL certificates, security badges and customer reviews. Clearly display your privacy policy and terms of service to reassure customers that their information is safe.
   
4. Offer multiple payment options: Provide a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal and other popular options, to cater to different customer preferences.
   
5. Implement exit-intent popups: Use exit-intent popups to capture the attention of customers who are about to leave your site. Offer a discount code, free shipping or other incentives to encourage them to complete their purchase.
   
6. Send abandoned cart emails: Set up automated email marketing campaigns to remind customers about their abandoned carts and provide a direct link to complete the purchase. Personalize these emails and consider offering a time-limited discount to create a sense of urgency.
   
7. Provide exceptional customer support: Offer easily accessible customer support through live chat, phone or email to address any concerns or questions customers may have during the checkout process.

Best Shopify Plugins to Combat Cart Abandonment 

Businesses use a number of e-commerce hosting platforms, the most popular being Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce and WordPress. Here are some powerful plugins and apps which can help reduce cart abandonment on the first three of these platforms:

Shopify Abandoned Cart Recovery

This built-in feature of Shopify gives you the ability to send automated email reminders to customers who have abandoned their carts. You can customize the email content, set the timing of the reminders and offer discount codes to encourage customers to complete their purchases within a specific time.

Recart for Shopify

This app combines SMS and Facebook Messenger reminders with automated email campaigns to recover abandoned carts. It also offers exit-intent popups and cart-saving features to keep customers engaged.

You can also check here for the best free Shopify Themes.

Abandoned Cart Recovery for BigCommerce

This app sends automated, personalized email reminders to customers who have abandoned their carts. You can customize the email templates, set the timing of the reminders and track the recovery rates.

Jilt for Shopify and BigCommerce: This app provides a suite of features to combat cart abandonment, including automated email reminders, exit-intent popups and post-purchase follow-ups. It also offers advanced segmentation and personalization options which enable you to tailor messaging to specific customer groups.

Mailchimp Abandoned Cart for Magento: This extension integrates Magento with Mailchimp, enabling you to send targeted email campaigns to customers who have abandoned their carts. You can set up a series of automated emails, customize their content and track the performance of your campaigns.

Recapture for Shopify and Magento: This app offers a comprehensive cart abandonment solution, including automated email sequences, SMS reminders and exit-intent popups. It also provides detailed analytics and reporting to help you optimize your abandonment strategies.

CartStack for Magento: This extension captures abandoned carts and sends personalized email reminders to customers. It also offers real-time analytics and A/B testing features to help you optimize your recovery campaigns.

Best WordPress Plugins to Combat Cart Abandonment 

For businesses using WordPress as their e-commerce platform, there are several powerful plugins available to help reduce cart abandonment and improve conversions. Some of the most effective options are:

WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Recovery

 

This plugin allows you to send automated email reminders to customers who have abandoned their carts. You can customize the email content, set the timing of the reminders and offer discount codes to incentivize customers to complete their purchases.

Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce 

Use this plugin to customize and streamline your checkout form fields. Remove unnecessary fields, add new ones and rearrange their order to create a more user-friendly checkout experience.
 

WooCommerce One Page Checkout 

This plugin combines the cart and checkout pages into a single, streamlined page, reducing the number of steps required to complete a purchase. Customers can view their cart contents, enter their information and place their order all on one page, minimizing the risk of abandonment.

WooCommerce Social Login

This plugin enables customers to log in and check out of your website using their social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter or Google. It simplifies the registration and login process, reducing friction and increasing the likelihood of customers completing their purchases.

WooCommerce Shipping Calculator on Product Page

This provides customers with a shipping cost calculator directly on the product page, which will help them understand the total cost of their purchase before adding items to their cart. This transparency can help prevent abandonment due to unexpected shipping fees.

WooCommerce Direct Checkout

This plugin enables customers to bypass the cart page altogether and proceed directly to checkout from the product page. It is particularly useful for businesses selling single products or customers who know exactly what they want to purchase.

WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart 

This plugin combines automated email reminders with exit-intent popups to capture the attention of customers who are about to leave your site. You can customize the popup content and offer incentives to encourage customers to complete their purchases.

For the best WooCommerce themes you check our article here: Best WooCommerce WordPress Themes

Best Practices for Implementing Cart Abandonment Solutions 

When choosing a plugin or app to combat cart abandonment on any e-commerce platform, factors such as ease of integration, customization options, automation capabilities and customer support need to be taken into consideration. When implementing these quick fixes and plugins, keep the following best practices in mind:

1. Test and optimize: Continuously monitor your cart abandonment rates and test different strategies and plugin configurations to identify what works best for your business and customers.
   
2. Personalize the experience: Use customer data to personalize abandonment emails, popups and other communications. Address customers by name, include product images and tailor messaging to their specific interests and behaviors.
   
3. Timing is key: Experiment with the timing of abandonment emails and popups to find the optimal balance between being helpful and being intrusive. Consider sending the first email reminder within an hour of abandonment, followed by additional reminders over the next few days.
   
4. Offer value: Provide customers with genuine value through discounts, free shipping or other incentives. However be careful not to train customers to always expect discounts, as this can erode your profit margins over time.
   
5. Ensure mobile-friendliness: With a growing number of customers shopping on mobile devices, it's crucial to ensure that your checkout process and abandonment solutions are fully mobile-friendly. Test your site on various devices and optimize for a seamless mobile experience.

Conclusion 

Cart abandonment is a significant challenge for e-commerce businesses. Leading a horse to water without making it drink means you are selling an expectation which is not being met, and this erodes trust over time as well as reducing individual sales.

By implementing these quick fixes and leveraging the power of plugins you can keep customers engaged and increase conversions. Whatever your hosting site, there are tools which can help you, which have been generated by the combined experience of these sites.

Remember to focus on transparency, simplicity, trust, and personalization throughout the checkout process, and continuously test and optimize your abandonment solutions for the best results. Saving sales now will greatly increase your chances of not losing a bunch of them going forward.

By taking a proactive approach to combating cart abandonment you'll be well on your way to maximizing your online sales and building long-lasting relationships with your customers. By understanding why the abandonment drivers contradict your goals, you’ll be able to make this phenomenon a thing of the past.