Hiring the Internet

Recently, more and more people have been exiting online purchases when they go through the payment order process. According to MarketLive, in the first quarter of 2008, consumers were a little more likely to commit shopping cart abandonment than compared to the first quarter in 2007.

Since e-commerce sites in general have improved over time, the recent increase in the abandonment rate may be attributed to trends occurring outside of the web, such as lower spending overall in the U.S. Online merchants, though, should be aware of the reasons why customers quit their orders in order to maximize profits.

Reasons for Shopping Cart Abandonment

According to various surveys, consumers abandon shopping carts for these various reasons (in no particular order):

• Comparison shopping or browsing (not serious or committed about the purchase anyway)
• The site mandates registration before a purchase is made
• The site seems unreliable or unstable, or just plain shady
• The checkout process is too long or confusing
• Shipping takes too long
• Shipping cost*

In case you could not tell by the bolded typeface and the asterisk indication of specialness, we consider the shock of shipping costs to be a significant cause of shopping cart abandonment. After all, if the customer navigated your site to the point that they went into the shopping cart, chances are that your site is not a heinous monster to behold.

Online shopping has two major advantages in comparison to stores: 1) it’s convenient, where you make your order instantaneously and have the package arrive at your home, and 2) almost anything can be found on the web, including collectibles, out-of-print books or records, etc. One difficulty of online shopping, though, is that shipping cost can work against a lowered price on the Internet, and it can be enough of a consideration to halt customers from hitting that “Submit Order” button.

Considerations for Optimizing Your Checkout Process

Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment:

Before Checkout

1. Show stock availability of each item.

This will put pressure on the customer to buy your product.

2. Reveal lowest shipping cost as early as possible.

It is best to have a variety of shipping options and to include the cost that is cheapest accounted into the estimated order.

3. Have a link to the safety and privacy info near the Order button.

In case someone holds reservations about the safety of your site, give the impression of transparency and assuage their fears with handy links to your website’s accreditation.

During Checkout

1. Make the shopping cart editable.

Sometimes a buyer makes a mistake or suddenly feels hesitant about the cost of the order. Make it easy for the customer to adjust the quantity or other options in the shopping cart.

2. Provide a link to the product page.

Before taking the plunge, a customer may want to make sure that it’s the correct product or review other information. The important thing here is to make sure that the customer is not under too much pressure to commit.

3. Keep the pictures of the chosen products viewable for as long as you can.

According to some, having pictures in the shopping cart improves checkout completion rates.

4. Reveal a progress indicator.

A customer may feel wearied by the checkout process and want to back out (yours truly has even walked out of a real store or two simply because the line was too long). Let them know how far along they are to encourage them through to completion.

5. Make it obvious where to click to continue through the checkout process.

A button that says “Next Step” or “Continue with checkout” would suffice. Place the button beneath the checkout form, as the eyepath of Internet users goes down.

6. To allay concerns about your website, use these tips to make yourself appear trustworthy.

Do you want your site to be the equivalent of that guy who sells fake Chanel bags out of the trunk of his car? Invest some money into your site so that it doesn’t look like a complete fly-by-night operation.

7. Provide a variety of shipping options, including free shipping.

Shipping cost is not the only concern for customers. Some want their wares to arrive fast. Accommodate the needs of all of your customers by offering a range of shipping options.

Better yet, allow for free shipping for orders with a minimum value of your choice. It’s a great way to lure bigger orders and it may save you more money than offering a discount!

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