As online shopping gets better and easier, more people turn to e-commerce sites to take care of their holiday shopping. What you want to avoid is people shopping around on your site, loading up their cart, and then abandoning before they actually make the purchase. Naturally this means that you need to find out why people are abandoning your shopping cart as a way to prepare for the holiday season.

Of course it’s also important to not only figure out why shopping cart abandonment might be happening but then figure out what to do about it. Keep in mind that there are many more than 5 reasons that people may choose not to finish their purchase, but the below tips can give you a really good idea of how to start making improvements.

They are simply browsing

At first, it many seem like this is a problem that you just can’t fix. If people are “window shopping” how are you suppose to be able to change that? Think again. If people are shopping around and loading up a cart with items, they are genuinely considering purchasing the related items from you or someone else.

Why? In a very few exceptional cases (think building your $3,000 dream living room for the fun of it), people could load up a cart with no intention of buying, but more often they are just not convinced at the end of their experience on your site that either you have the best price or the best quality for the items that they want to buy, or maybe it just isn’t the right time. They may load up their cart and then decide that they may be able to find the same items somewhere different for a better price. They can justify this (especially at the beginning of the holiday season) by saying they are simply browsing and simply not committed to the items at this point.

What you can do:

Browsing is like a foot in the door. You need to take every opportunity to convince them that now is the time, yours is the best price, and that they are not going to find a better quality for what they are looking for. During the holiday season you really should make it your mission to advertise sales, offer free shipping, discount purchases (for example, 20% off when you spend $100 or more), and provide any service that is reasonable for your company in order to incentivize the customers shopping experience.

For example, offer “this week only” promotions. This makes people feel like if they abandon their cart they are going to miss out on an opportunity to do their holiday shopping for the best possible price. Make things seem immediate, and do it throughout the process that sends people to the shopping cart.

It may be your checkout process

Things are increasingly more competitive in online shopping. If people are placing items into your cart and never completing their transaction, it could be something with your checkout process.

WHY? Because people are impatient. Checkout processes that take a really long time, do not remember certain information from previous purchases (or even previous pages), or do not look secure, are going to scare people away.

What you can do:

The best thing you can do is optimize your check-out process. People are already in a rush atone the holidays and making their checkout experience as smooth as possible will definitely make them more likely to finish what why started and finalize their purchase. There are several different ways you can do this:

  1. Make sure that people can checkout as a guest or register quickly with automatic information.
  2. Keep the checkout page full of distractions like blog posts or offers that are completely unrelated (deals are okay!).
  3. Make sure that people know how many steps are left in the buying process. If there are more than 4, you may lose some interest.
  4. Make sure there are no questions about shipping or payment processes. Everything should be laid out clearly and most importantly, quickly. A big long block of text explaining the shipping process could cause you to lose a few more.

Of course this could be an entire article all on its own explaining how to put each of the above items into practice, so visit this Marketing Agency page for more information.

They are saving items for later

There are definitely some instances where people genuinely are saving items for later, and this could be a reason they abandon their cart, especially if they are shopping for others around the holidays.

WHY? Sometimes people use a shopping cart like a wish list (especially if your site does not have a separate option for a wish list). This is honestly a best-case scenario for you, because it means that they are seriously thinking about buying, but either don’t have the money or the ability to commit just yet.

What you can do: 

All hope is not lost! If you managed to get the user’s information (which you likely did if they wanted to save their cart for later,) then you can send a reminder email. Keep it short and simple so it doesn’t seem like you’re spamming them, but always send that reminder.

Cost is too high with shipping

Shipping charges can really make or break the ability for a customer to justify buying something online vs. in the store.

WHY? This one is pretty obvious. Depending on your e-commerce company, a customer can likely buy the same items in a store near them without paying shipping. This is the downside of being an online retailer. Now, one thing you do have to your advantage is that holiday shopping is absolutely insane. Most people that are busy would happily pay a reasonable shipping charge, than fight the fight the crowds on a black Friday.

What you can do: 

Do everything you can to make sure that your shipping costs are competitive. You can also offer shipping discount coupons or free shipping if they agree to purchase a certain amount from your store. This can help you subsidize the cost, and makes them feel like they are getting a good deal for the amount of money they are spending. Plus, they don’t have to fight the holiday crowds to get their desired items. It is a win-win-win situation if you play your cards right.

Shipping time matters

During the holidays timing can be a critical issue, especially if people are waiting to shop last minute.

WHY? This usually goes without saying, but people want their items in time for holiday parties, work events, before they leave for vacation, and for Christmas morning. Even if it isn’t meant to me a gift, they could be counting on their new outfit or personal items to arrive before an event. This is the time of year where a week can really make a difference. Again, you are fighting the battle of being able to go to the store and pick up the same item vs. ordering online and having it delivered on time.

What you can do:

You definitely want to make sure that you have a reasonable shipping time frame. If possible, you should be able to get their items to them in under a week, and have options for faster shipping at an additional price. I know this can be challenging, especially with international shipping, but putting a good shipping procedure in place for your customers is one of the best things that you can do to ensure they wont want to abandon their cart. This may mean upping your fulfillment company’s time and resources or hiring extra workers, but it will be worth it even if you just make these changes seasonally.

The Takeaway

Let’s face it. You can’t always avoid people abandoning their carts and sometimes it will be out of your control. What you can do is try to understand WHY people are abandoning their carts, and as this article suggests, try to put efforts in place to avoid these situations all together.

Do you have experience with improving you shopping cart conversion rates? Are there any additional problems you have faced? Let us know in the comments section below.