Most small businesses are familiar with the phenomenon of abandoned shopping carts. A problem not endemic to just big businesses, shopping cart abandonment plagues small businesses as well. In a report issued by Forrester Research, shopping cart abandonment rate rose to 49 percent from 47 percent in 2001.
It seems retailers in general are not doing such a good job in converting those customers who are just browsing into sales. Several reasons have been offered to explain why customers abandon their carts, including:
- High shipping prices
- Customer is just comparison shopping/browsing
- Customer changed mind or is saving items for later purchase
- Items are too expensive
- Checkout process is too long and tedious or requires too much personal information such as site registration
- Site is unstable or unreliable or malfunctioned
- Customer could not find the product
Abandoned shopping carts highlight the fact that small businesses need to improve the overall customer experience. While there aren't any foolproof methods for preventing abandonment, there are some basic fixes that could lower the filling and fleeing rate:
- Transaction pages should be fully secure.
- Shipping costs should be reasonable.
- Product availability should be disclosed early in the transaction, as should shipping charges and taxes.
- Navigation should be simple and intuitive with a direct path from product pages to checkout.
- Shipping and billing information should be stored securely so repeat customers don't have the re-key their personal information.
- Shopping cart software, coupon codes and other technical components should be tested often to ensure reliability.
- Delivery should be timely in order to lay groundwork for repeat sales later on.
Inevitably, there will be a percentage of carts that will be abandoned before the final click. Implementing the following procedures may help you lure your customers back to your site so they can complete their purchase:
- Follow up with e-mail to remind the customer that you are holding the items.
- Send coupons, special offerings and promotions that are applicable to their selected items.
- Survey the customer about what prevented them from completing the sale.
- Compare your prices and services to competitors to ensure that you are offering the best deals.
A certain amount of abandonment should be expected at small business e-commerce sites. Some visitors may be browsing, comparing prices, or have circumstances that prevent them from purchasing at that particular time. However, the extra attention that you give to cultivating the relationship could eventually result in a loyal customer.
