According to the Baymard Institute research, on average 69% of shopping carts get abandoned once the customers reach this final step of your funnel. While the statistics are suggesting that shopping cart is commonly a weak spot for e-commerce sales, there are quite a few elements that we could alter in order to decrease this alarming number of abandoned purchases.
A week ago we had a chance to read 11 reasons why customers are abandoning their carts. Although all of these insights are helpful, in this article I want to address the very process of the purchase, show a few examples on how this matter can be dealt with, and explain why and how people opt out from your sales funnel and how to prevent it. For this purpose, we will divide our customers into three separate groups.
Curious “customers”
The fact is that a large number of visitors isn’t there for the purchase, but solely for the research. It is evident that consumers are consulting reviews and prices more and more, and some of them simply wish to check everything in order to make a decision. Some prospects never complete transactions simply because they have no intention of buying the actual product. However, even in this situation you can do something with the final, most problematic step of the sales funnel: make your navigation interface work to your benefit. Add navigation options to return visitors from the check-out page, back to the showcase of your products. If your prospect is presented with this freedom of choice, all the chances are they will continue to browse through your website, increasing the overall session time duration and decreasing your bounce rate. In that way, we are not only keeping the customers inside the funnel, we are also nurturing our SEO.
Worried customers
In the contemporary world of the Internet of Things, it is only natural that your potential customers will be worried about their safety when shopping online. In 2016, this sort of fear is not only something you should expect from your customers, in fact, you should count on it. Although as much as one third of online shoppers is literally afraid of online purchases and scared for their vital data, only 65% of vendors offer security assurance on their check out page. So in order to provide your customers with genuine assurance that your business is legit and that they should feel safe if they decide to do business with you are the following:
- Security assurance: Send a message to your client on the check-out page, and assure him that you are taking his data in all discretion. This page should also include a satisfaction guarantee as an additional assurance for the client.
- Social factor: Nothing drives more sales than a thorough review of your product and actual testimonials of your past customers. Include images of your customers and have their quotes following your new prospects through the funnel.
This way, you’re showing your visitors that you already have a well-developed base of customers who decided to trust you and are happy with the service. It is always easier to trust a company once you witness a large group of people behind the brand.
Nurtured customers
From the very beginning of your customer’s visit to the checkout page, the process of purchase should be easy, quick and comprehensive. All costs should be presented transparently, shipping could potentially be free (and this is something you should emphasize), additionally, a great variety of paying options will certainly encourage more people to make a purchase. For example, the Davey Boys toys e-commerce website is solely concentrated on delivering that sort of an experience in a short period of time. The website clearly defined all perks and benefits of purchasing from them, the emphasis was put on cyber security awareness, and they’ve included several paying options as well. In fact, this is one of the proven strategies which will bring you an increase in conversion. So remember not to ask for any more details than you have to— the fewer the questions the better. Make your customers feel safe, comfortable and almost nurtured.
The Conclusion
Although mobile search has surpassed desktop over the last year, you will be surprised to find out that most conversions actually happen on desktop computers. On a global scale, conversion rate for desktop inquiries is 2.87%, while it is 2.4% on mobile. This still means you will need a well-optimized and a mobile-friendly version of the site, but solely because you need to make yourself accessible. Utilizing your shopping cart for conversions is seemingly a difficult task, but a necessary one as well.
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