07 Jun
Shopping cart abandonment is a huge concern for online stores. Getting a ton of website visitors alone won’t grow your business. You need those visitors to stick around long enough to add products to their cart and convert into paying customers.
In other words, for every seven customers that fill up their cart with goodies, only three will proceed to checkout and swipe their credit card. While you can optimize your checkout by including trust signals, improving the loading times of your pages and adding a progress bar, it is also a good idea to invest in an abandoned cart plugin.
With the help of such a tool, you will be able to start an email drip campaign with the specific goal of addressing shopping cart abandonment. Sometimes the customer might just have forgotten about his cart (it happens to be the best of us) and a friendly reminder is all that is needed.
What is cart abandonment?
Shopping basket relinquishment is the point at which a potential client begins a look at process for a web-based request however exits the interaction prior to finishing the buy. Anything that enters the shopping basket yet never endures the exchange is viewed as “deserted” by the customer. Shopping basket deserting is a significant part of the internet shopping interaction to which retailers give cautious consideration.
Shopping basket deserting rate is determined by separating the absolute number of finished exchanges by the complete number of exchanges that were started. This rate will distinguish which level of a site’s clients signal buy expectation by adding a thing to the truck, however don’t finish the buy.
The shopping basket deserting rate is a significant measurement for online business locales to monitor on the grounds that a high surrender rate could flag an unfortunate client experience or broken deals pipe. Decreasing shopping basket relinquishment drives straightforwardly to more deals and income, so streamlining the checkout stream is a center area of concentration for some web-based retailers.
How to reduce shopping cart abandonment
There are many possible causes for shopping cart abandonment, making it a complex problem to tackle. The first step in addressing the issue is to create hypotheses about why visitors are abandoning their carts. This can be done by looking at analytics data and identifying drop off points, conducting user research and surveys, or comparing your checkout flow to competing sites.
Once a hypothesis has been generated, then different solutions can be tested on the site through A/B testing to determine whether a proposed solution will help improve the shopping cart abandonment rate.
For example, one common issue that many online stores face is the issue of trust. Although web users have grown more comfortable in providing their credit cards over the web, many users can still be hesitant to provide their financial information to unfamiliar websites.
If the theory is that lack of trust is leading to abandoned carts, then different solutions can be implemented to increase trust, such as including reviews and testimonials, incorporating trust seals, prominently featuring pictures of real people, and offering money back guarantees. Each of these can be tested on the site to determine whether they have a statistically significant impact on cart abandonment rate.
In another example, a company might notice that 25% of their shoppers are dropping off on the second page of their online shopping cart. Once they have identified the problem area, they can implement different features to encourage users to complete the purchase.
For example, they could test adding a progress bar to give shoppers a visual indicator of where they are in the checkout process. Or they could offer a limited-time offer to incentivize shoppers to complete the transaction immediately. They could even eliminate the second page of their checkout flow altogether through a redesign, in order to speed up the checkout process.
By creating a hypothesis for why shoppers abandon a cart they’ve already added products to and testing new ideas for improving the sales funnel, ecommerce sites can constantly improve the conversion rate of their site and increase revenues without having to spend more on increasing traffic.
Shopping cart recovery
Beyond just improving and optimizing the shopping cart experience, another key strategy for dealing with cart abandonment is shopping cart recovery. Despite your best efforts to reduce cart abandonment, some percentage of customers will always leave your site before making a purchase.
That’s where cart recovery comes in, to attempt to capture the customer after they’ve already left your ecommerce site. There are two main methods of cart recovery:
- Abandoned cart emails – If the user entered their email address during the checkout process before leaving your site, then there is the opportunity to send them an abandonment email. This is usually some form of offer or coupon code to entice the user to return to your site and make the purchase.
- Abandoned cart retargeting – Ad retargeting is another powerful tactic in cart recovery. With retargeting, you place an ad pixel on your checkout page and then are able to remarket to those users on ad platforms such as Facebook and Google. The advantage of retargeting is that it works even if the user did not enter their email address, and you can remain top of mind for the customer as they are browsing the web.
Common reasons for shopping cart abandonment
Every ecommerce store is different, but the following are some common issues faced by many sites that result in cart abandonment:
- Lack of trust – Web users aren’t always comfortable providing credit card info online. Improve conversions by building more trust on the checkout page and throughout the site via social proof and building a strong brand. A generous return policy can also help allay customer concerns.
- High shipping costs – Customers often abandon shopping carts when they get sticker shock after seeing how much their order costs with shipping. Avoid this by offering free shipping promos.
- Complexity – Online shoppers have a short attention span and will abandon the checkout flow if it is too complex or time consuming. Avoid this by making the checkout process as easy and painless as possible.
- Browsing – Many users who add items to the cart but don’t complete are just browsing with low buying intent. Incentivize these users to purchase immediately by offering limited time promos and creating a sense of urgency.
- Lack of payment options – Customers often have strong preferences of how they would like to pay, and only complete a purchase if their preferred method is presented. Reduce this problem by offering the most popular payment methods for your target audience such as Amex and PayPal.
- Price is too high – Users on the web often comparison shop to find the best deals. You can help prevent customers from jumping ship by offering special discounts and coupon codes in order to keep them from being scared away by high prices and looking for better deals elsewhere.
- Technical problems – All technology is susceptible to technical issues and glitches. Be sure to monitor your analytics and do regular reviews of the checkout process to ensure there are no show-stopping bugs. Also ensure that the code on your checkout page is optimized so there are no long load times.
Top cart abandonment software and solutions
1. OptinMonster
It is the best cart abandonment software on the market. It’s versatile, has advanced functionality, and outstanding support. It’s also one of the few solutions that can satisfy the needs of both beginners and grizzled vets.
If you’re a beginner, there are plenty of tutorials and templates you can make use of in order to achieve your goals. If you’re a veteran, you can play around with different campaign types, Advanced Targeting, and Display Rules. All in all, OptinMonster is perfect for those who are more serious about lowering their cart abandonment rate.
Features:
- Exit-Intent Technology
- Geo-Location Targeting
- Mobile-Friendly Popups
- Drag & Drop Builder
- Multiple Campaign Types
- Seamless Integrations
- A/B Testing
- Conversion Analytics
Pricing:
The cart abandonment solution is available in the Pro subscription plan, priced at $29 per month.
2. PushEngage
PushEngage is a great cart abandonment software for recovering lost revenue. It helps you send targeted and personalized push notifications to your prospects. This can be done in under 10 minutes using one of PushEngage’s top cart abandonment features. PushEngage is also compatible with all web platforms, WordPress and Shopify included. Best part is no coding skills required.
Features:
- Geo-Location Targeting
- Abandon Form
- Browse Notifications
- Goal Tracking & Analytics
- Cart Abandonment Reminder
- Automatic Drip Campaigns
Pricing:
The price starts at $9 per month for the Business plan, and it goes up to $29 per month for the Premium plan. For cart abandonment features, we recommend the Premium plan.
3. CartStack
CartStack is another great cart abandonment software. It comes with a variety of features that can help you reduce cart abandonment. In fact, you can use CartStack to reach out to your prospects on multiple channels at once.
That means you have the ability to send email reminders, push notifications, SMS reminders, and tab notifications. CartStack also integrates with all major eCommerce and Booking platforms.
Features:
- On-Site Retention Tools
- Email Reminders
- SMS Reminders
- Push Notifications
- Abandoned Tab Notifications
- Multiple Integrations
Pricing:
The price starts at $29 per month for the Basic plan, and it goes all the way up to $149 per month for the Agency plan.
4. Drip
Drip is a straightforward cart abandonment solution focused on email and SMS marketing. Since most visitors who abandon a website never come back, Drip gives you the opportunity to reach out to them in different ways.
You can use the data you have on your prospects and customers to create multi-channel campaigns focused on reducing cart abandonment. We use Drip in our email marketing efforts, and we recommend it to anyone looking to grow their list and increase sales.
Features:
- Multi-Channel Campaigns
- On-Site Popups
- ecommerce Playbooks
- Multiple Integrations
- Precision Targeting
Pricing:
The price varies based on the size of your email list. It starts at $19 per month for 500 contacts.
5. LiveChat
LiveChat is a cart abandonment solution perfect for having live interactions with your prospects. There’s almost no better way to reduce cart abandonment than approaching your visitor right as they are about to leave. The downside of LiveChat compared to other options we presented is the human factor.
More specifically, you need to have someone on your team ready to reach out and interact with those who are browsing your website. However, that only applies if you want to interact 1-on-1. If not, then you can use automated responses, even if that’s going to lower the conversion rate.
Features:
- Custom Forms
- AI Automation
- Hundreds of Integrations
- Targeted Messages
- Notifications
- Reports & Analytics
Pricing:
The price starts at $16 per agent/month for the Starter plan, and it goes up to $50 per agent/month for the Business plan.
6. Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce
Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce is a cart abandonment solution for WordPress. It’s simple and easy to use. This also means it doesn’t have a wide range of features. That being said, it still does its job well, and it reduces cart abandonment with the help of email notifications. This particular solution is a good choice if you have a WordPress website and want to reach out to your prospects in a straightforward way.
Features:
- Identify Abandoned Orders Information
- Email Notifications
- 1 Default Email Template
- Time Intervals
- Custom Message Variables
Pricing:
The Lite version is FREE
7. Retainful
Retainful is a cart abandonment solution focused on email marketing. It comes with multiple email-specific features that help you reach out to your prospects at different stages of the marketing funnel. Retainful offers pre-built templates and workflow sequences, so it’s a good option for beginners who have never used a similar software before.
Features:
- Exit Intent Popup
- Personalized Cart Recovery Emails
- Track Abandoned Carts
- Pre-Built Templates and Workflow Sequences
- Automated Email Campaigns
Pricing:
Retainful has a Free plan for those who are just starting out, and 3 paid plans for the more experienced users. The price starts at $19 per month, and it goes up to $199 per month.
8. CartBounty
CartBounty is another cart abandonment solution for WordPress. Similar to the other WordPress plugin we previously mentioned, CartBounty is simple and quite limited in its functionality. This is the type of option we recommend to beginners who just started out their eCommerce business.
Features:
- Abandoned Cart Reminder Email
- Remember Checkout Fields
- Exit Intent Popup
Pricing:
The Basic version is Free. The Pro version is priced at $79 for a single website license.
Conclusion
When it comes to lowering the cart abandonment rate, giving discounts is one of the best approaches you could take. You can send your visitors a discount coupon in exchange for their email address. This type of campaign converts well for most businesses.
Choosing one of these effective cart abandonment solutions can help you to recover lost sales and build a better relationship with your customers. As an added bonus, you can integrate content related to your cause into your cart abandonment recovery emails, giving customers another reason to go back and finish their purchase.