5 Ways to Reduce Site Abandonment

Updated 9/25: The following blog is adapted from Bizrate Insights’ past library of white papers and guides that we’ve made publicly available. Enjoy! The average online shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.8%. This means just over 30% of customers who add items to a shopping cart end up making a purchase.That abandonment rate jumps to 85.6% when looking at mobile shopping data. With more than half of all ecommerce traffic coming from mobile devices, that’s a big problem for your bottom line. There are a number of reasons that site abandonment rates are so high. Visitors may be just browsing, comparing prices, or simply change their mind, but others may be leaving your site because of a preventable issue in the shopping experience. If you figure out why this is happening, then you can take steps to reduce cart abandonment and stop leaving revenue on the table. To reduce site abandonment, you need to know the following:

Using data from our retail partners, we created this quick guide to share the most important aspects of improving the customer experience and decreasing your site abandonment rate. Keep reading to learn how you can reduce cart abandonment and increase conversion rates in just five simple steps.

1. Examine your site’s UX and design

Your site’s design, layout, and functionality are the first thing a visitor notices. A customer comes to your website looking for a product, but if they can’t easily find it, your pages load slowly, or the overall user experience is not what they expected, they will leave and look for it on a competitor’s site. To get started, tap outside sources to perform user testing to get objective feedback on your site design and usability. If that’s not an option, have different team members take the time to carefully review your website from your customer’s perspective.

Use the following prompts around a positive UX to guide your assessment:

• Do you have a prominent search bar to easily find products?
• Are products categorized intuitively and in a way that allows the user to choose how they shop? (E.g. for a clothing retailer can you filter by size, color, occasion, or item type?)
• Are there enough product details? Can they quickly see material, color options, and sizing information?
• Is your product availability displayed on the product page?
• Is your inventory updated in real time so that stock levels are accurate?
• Are the images clear and inviting? Can you zoom in for a close-up?
• How long does your site take to load? What about on a mobile device?
• Is your site mobile optimized?
• Does your site have intrusive pop-ups that disrupt the user experience?

Many of these questions may lead you to find several more areas where you can improve or update your site. This is good news! It means that you are taking a thoughtful approach to your ecommerce site and considering the many elements that impact the customer’s experience. Before you make any changes to your site, make sure to identify how it may impact other elements of the shopping experience. For example, you might add a stunning product video, but if it slows down the page load time, you may lose visitors before they even see the video. Time is money if it stands between your customer and their goals, so make sure that any site updates are only improving the customer’s experience.

2. Streamline the shopping cart

Once you analyze your overall user experience and how a customer can browse, add, and view products, it’s time to focus on one of the most critical elements of site abandonment: the shopping cart experience. Make sure to give consumers the information they need to make informed decisions before they start the payment process. In addition to reviewing the usability, design, and functionality of your shopping cart, take note of these common issues that can deter a shopper from completing their sale.

• Include shipping pricing and timing information early in the checkout process
• Make sure your shipping costs are in line with industry standards
• Highlight promotions early in the process to encourage them to make it to the cart
• Make sure promo codes can be entered easily
• If there are exclusions to promo codes, clearly state that on the individual product page so that a user doesn’t find out when they’re ready to finalize a purchase
• Display trust signals such as security logos so that your customers know their personal information is secure
• Include a progress indicator so that they know how many steps are in the checkout process
• Allow them to view the items in their bag throughout the process so they don’t need to go back to the beginning and start over if they want to review one last time

3. Reengage shoppers who left your site

Wouldn’t it be great to win back customers immediately after they leave your site? With Bizrate Insights’ Site Abandonment survey you can do just that. Our TrueExit™ technology doesn’t interrupt the shopping experience, but rather collects feedback as customers are exiting your site. The survey asks questions around the shopper’s visit intent, point of abandonment, future intent, overall satisfaction, and more. Your team will receive real-time email alerts when a survey is submitted, and since the Site Abandonment Survey invites shoppers to provide their contact information, you can immediately contact them and win back the sale. The survey is built to be convenient for shoppers, so in addition to being mobile optimized, users have several options to easily opt out of the survey, and there is a 21-day cookie so that the same customer doesn’t see the invitation too frequently. Additionally, your team can include custom questions to further improve your understanding of your customer’s unique wants and needs.

4. Welcome shoppers back

Now that you know why and where a customer abandoned your site, you need a plan for bringing them back. With Bizrate Insights, you can pass in customer information like customer ID, products viewed, items added to cart, and more. Use these insights to create a hyper-targeted reengagement strategy and win back those customers.

Whether you take a direct or subtle approach, here are a few ways to reach out to shoppers who abandoned your site:

• Reach out via email: If you have their contact information, use email notifications to reengage them. Let customers know that the product they had their eye on is still waiting for them, share a limited-time coupon to encourage purchase, or send an email when an out-of-stock item becomes available again. This approach helps remind shoppers of their interest and provides incentives to complete their purchase.
• Leverage retargeting: Retargeted ads are an effective way to subtly remind shoppers that your products are waiting for them to return. These ads keep your brand top of mind and reinforce the reason the shopper visited your site in the first place. You can also use retargeting to announce sales or share limited-quantity alerts, creating a sense of urgency that encourages shoppers to come back and complete their purchase.

Once they’ve returned to your site, circle back to shopping cart best practices—keep their cart full of items they added during the last visit.

5. Follow up after cart abandonment

Bizrate Insights’ research revealed that 85% of website abandoners who experience technical difficulties, site usability problems, or payment issues, say they would like the retailer that they just abandoned to contact them to complete their order. Using Bizrate Insights’ solutions you can find out why they left, how you can fix it, and where you can contact them to bring them back. Armed with real-time insights into the customer journey, your brand can nimbly intercept feedback and take the appropriate actions.

Our team can help you implement best practices to reduce site abandonment, reengage first-time shoppers, and create loyal customers. Learn more about how customer feedback can be your most valuable resource by speaking with one of our team members today.