9 Strategies To Reduce Basket Abandonment Rate

Basket abandonment is a phrase used to describe when a visitor of a website leaves before completing an online purchase. This could be when the visitor adds an item to their basket or when a customer begins booking a hotel, but exits before making that purchase/booking.

Basket abandonment is a frustrating problem faced by many eCommerce retailers. Unfortunately it’s impossible to stop every single abandoned basket, but there are ways to reduce the rate at which it is happening.

Did you know? The average basket abandonment rate is 69.57%. – Baymard Institute

Firstly, let’s look at why your customers are leaving your site before completing the checkout process to help understand how this can happen:

Additional costs

One of the main reasons why someone fails to complete an online purchase is because of extra costs such as shipping charges or taxes.

Making an account is a requirement

Around 34% of basket abandonment happen when people are made to register for an account before they checkout (SaleCycle).

Long checkout process

If the checkout process is long and confusing to a customer, they will be more likely to leave the website before completing their purchase.

Lack of trust with the site when entering credit card details

Payment security is at the forefront of your customers’ minds when they are about to make a purchase. If they feel the site isn’t secure, they won’t make a purchase.

No customer support

Customers expect adequate service when spending their money. A study by LivePerson found that 83% of online shoppers expect help while they are on a website and 51% said they are more likely to make a purchase if they’ve had customer support.

9 Ways to Reduce Basket Abandonment Rate

1) Introduce free shipping

Whilst we understand that adding free shipping on all products isn’t always feasible, including free shipping options can help to reduce basket abandonment rates.

Have a think about including free shipping before a certain time or above a certain amount spent. By introducing a threshold can even encourage customers to buy more products if they know they need to spend an extra few pounds to be eligible for free delivery.

As you can see, MyMemory states they offer free UK delivery on all orders in their banner.

If you prefer not to use these or they don’t work for your business, make sure you clearly show your shipping costs before your customers reach the checkout. This will help reduce abandoned baskets at the last stage of the funnel.

Did you know? 28% of shoppers will abandon their cart if there are unexpected shipping costs – Neil Patel.

2) Introduce checkout as a guest

As mentioned above, 34% of customers leave the website before making a purchase if they are required to make an account. This is because people will avoid filling in online forms wherever they can to make the process faster. A way around this is to add a ‘checkout as guest’ option. You can still have the ability to create an account, but save this until after they have completed their purchase.

Alternatively, by providing a way to sign in through their social media profile is another way to bypass creating an account. ASOS is a good example of doing just that. As you can see below, when asking if they are new to ASOS, they include the option of logging in via Facebook, Google or Twitter.

3) Make the checkout process quicker

We’re impatient creatures, when we see our favourite pair of shoes, we want to buy them as quickly as possible. If your customers are asked to fill out five pages of their details, they will simply leave the website and find another website that has a quick checkout. Think of it like shopping in store – you’ll always look for the shortest queue. The more you simplify the checkout and reduce the number of hurdles the better for improving your abandoned basket rate.

To streamline the checkout process, remove any steps or information that you don’t really need from the customer. Only ask for essential information such as name, email address, delivery address and payment details, making sure this is included in one page to prevent customers dropping out between pages.

Pro tip: Magento has a one step checkout extension to simplify the checkout process for your Magento store.

4) Increase trust in the buying process

A lot of customers feel unsafe about making purchases online, so to make them feel at ease when buying through your website, provide information that your site is secure.

The easiest way to do this is by having a valid SSL certificate installed on your website. If you’re not sure what an SSL certificate is, take a look at our blog HTTP to HTTPS: Make the Move or Ruin Rankings Say Google. Also adding trust logos that verify your payment system will give customers peace of mind when shopping on your website.

5) Add a customer support chat tool

The majority of the time, shoppers will need to ask questions when browsing a website or during the checkout process. A chat feature is a great way to easily talk to your customers and answer any queries they may have.

There are lots of options on the market including WhosOn, which is used by Housing Units, and LiveChat which is a Magento specific chat tool designed to help with customer support and online sales. Having the ability to add personalised messages to shoppers and quick responses means your customers will be more satisfied with their customer experience and will be more likely to buy on the website.

Did you know? 70% of unhappy customers whose problems are resolved are willing to shop with that business again – Glance

6) Send abandoned cart emails

An abandoned cart email is a follow up email to a customer that has not completed their purchase. Essentially, an abandoned cart email reminds customers of items they have left in their cart, encouraging them to come back and complete their purchase.

Abandoned cart emails can be set up automatically, so there’s no need to worry about adding this information manually. Tools such as Magewares and MailChimp allow you to easily set up and send reminder emails by syncing your customer list and purchase data.

It’s important to get the timing right when sending abandoned cart emails. You don’t want to leave it too long so your customer has got over their shopper urge, so you need to strike while the iron is hot. We recommend sending the first email around an hour after the customer abandons their cart and follow up with additional emails 12 hours later and then a day later if they still haven’t made the purchase. Your abandoned cart email tool will provide settings where you can schedule these emails, so you don’t need to set this up manually.

Did you know? According to Omnisend, eCommerce marketers who use a series of three cart abandonment emails have the best order rates with around 69% more orders than those who just send one email.

Also customise your messages to create a real personalised experience. Include a catchy subject line to grab their attention, add the abandoned product with a big CTA button where they can go straight back to their basket and complete their purchase.

Pro tip: include customer reviews, coupon codes and customer support to really entice your customers back.

7) Use Remarketing

Unfortunately, not all basket abandonment can be prevented, but retargeting to your customers is another way to encourage them back to your website.

Did you know? Companies who use Google Remarketing ads reported a massive 161% in conversion rate – Creadits

Facebook and Google both provide excellent ways to advertise your products back to the customers who failed to complete their purchase. A tracking pixel placed in your website’s code can capture visitor behaviour and store this data in a cookie. You are then able to create a remarketing campaign targeting audiences who have visited your website, but not made a purchase.

8) Add social proof

Most of the time, customers are on the fence about whether they should buy a product or not. Showcasing how your products have helped others on product pages will get rid of that seed of doubt.

Did you know? Nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase and Displaying reviews can increase conversion rates by 270%. – Spiegel Research Center

You can add social proofing to your site in a number of ways, including:

• Ask customers who have bought a product to leave a review
• Feature product reviews on product pages
• Add widgets such as Yotpo to include user generated content

Ikea provides a great example of how customers are using their products in their homes.

9) Identify where customers are leaving the website

Google Analytics provides an insight into the behaviour of your website visitors. Instead of making assumptions about where your customers are leaving your website, have a look at the Behaviour Flow tab to identify exactly where your customers are ‘dropping off’ before the checkout. From here, you can make improvements to the pages where people are dropping off the most in order to improve user experience.

Another tool to help monitor website user experience is Hotjar. After installing a Hotjar code on your website you’ll be able to see how your website visitors navigate through the site and identify any areas that might need improving.

Summary

Hopefully, our strategies have provided some ideas of how you can reduce your abandoned basket rate and boost your online sales.

Remember, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to Commerce marketing, so make sure to trial a number of strategies to find what works for your customers.

Here at iWeb, we create bespoke eCommerce websites that convert and drive sales.

If you’d like eCommerce marketing advice or information, contact our sister agency, Kanuka Digital, who specialise in helping eCommerce websites grow their business online.