Why do Online Shoppers Leave Without Paying?
Research from Baymard Institute has shown that two out of three customers abandon their purchase during checkout. These significantly noteworthy numbers will affect any entrepreneur working with e-Commerce. The research covers data from more than 37 unique cases and assesses thousands of bits of data collected over the years. Similar conclusions have been drawn across the board from other major research organizations, some reporting the average abandon rates of eCommerce customers as high as 80%.
Potential customers lost during checkout is thus a serious challenge that should be a top priority to address. This is especially the case because potential customers lost during checkout are among those visitors with the highest purchasing potential. These visitors have not only selected the products they are interested in and added them to their cart, they have also made it all the way to the checkout, and yet something is stopping them from going through with their purchase. Luckily, a large majority of these potential customers have an interest in completing their purchase. The existence of a variety of digital marketing tools makes it possible for you to convert them relatively easily and without a large investment.
Think about it for a second. You are potentially missing out on two out of every three of your potential clients currently visiting your website. Take a moment to picture the growth your company would experience if you could manage to prevent these “almost”-customers from abandoning their purchases.
Why are online shoppers leaving without paying and what can you do about it?
There are several reasons why people abandon their shopping cart, many of which can be prevented. Findings from Statista, which largely reflect our own data and observations, find 14 primary reasons for abandoned shopping carts. It is important to remember that there may be a combination of reasons for an abandoned shopping cart and that the following list is indicative and not exclusive.
Of these 14 primary reasons, three stand out due to being especially important and easy to resolve. Let’s take a look at those.
The absence of information
No less than 56% of potential customers abandon their purchase due to unexpected expenses. It is thus vital to keep the visitor properly informed at every step – from the beginning to the very end. The information that a customer needs to finalize his purchase varies and depends on factors such as the customer segment at hand and the products being sold. In our work with improving conversion rates, we frequently find three pieces of information that are either missing or hard to find: credit card fees, delivery fees, and VAT details. Additionally, for those companies that offer a good deal on returns, deliver quickly, or provide other benefits such as several popular payment methods or especially safe payment platforms, this information should be used to your advantage.
While many companies do indeed provide the information necessary to obtain a good conversion rate, they fail to bring it to the customer’s attention. Important information should be located in clear sight and should be visible at all times. Most visitors today end up on your site as a result of your advertisements or directly through organic searches. Consequently, they are sent to your designated landing page and may thus never find all the important information that is not available everywhere. An effective solution to this problem is to attach a bar to the top of your site, which includes all the important information.
Further, it is in many cases a good idea to have a pop-up box that appears once a customer adds a product to his cart. Similarly, this pop-up box will then include the most important information (e.g. what’s in their cart, price, as well as information on delivery, fees, secure payment, etcetera). Both in the bar and the pop-up box, including company information such as e-mail address, phone number, and physical address is beneficial to one’s conversion rate due to granting a feeling of security and trustworthiness for the customer. Another known conversion booster is to integrate a live-chat on the website providing customer service.
A website that is not user-friendly
It goes without saying that user-friendliness is fundamental to marketing success. Nonetheless, websites continuously fail to make their websites sufficiently user-friendly. 25% of visitors abandon their purchase because they find it difficult to navigate the website, 24% due to the website crashing or showing unexpected errors, and 21% due to the website simply being too slow. A user-friendly website takes into consideration things such as adequately presenting important information, taking advantage of intriguing and informative storytelling, maintaining a cohesive color scheme, providing a simple menu, and offering helpful functions such as the opportunity to effectively search for products and sort products within categories. Additionally, websites are increasingly expected to perform better, i.e. be faster and more intuitive, which requires ever better and more optimized coding, faster and more convenient payment processes, and complete availability on all screens and platforms (phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc).
Poorly marketed products
37% of visitors abandon an already initiated purchase because they happen to be just browsing. Undeniably, some of these visitors will never become customers, but in reality, a large majority could. Many of them are browsing your website because they have an interest in whatever it is you are offering, and it is your job to convince them to make a purchase. We are talking about visitors with a high purchasing potential that are often just steps away from finishing their purchase, making it irrelevant if they were initially just browsing out of curiosity. The best way to convince people to purchase your product is to market it properly. Promote your product, so that the potential customer decides he wants and needs it. This is done by providing well-written and informative product descriptions, high-quality product pictures taken in the right setting, and appealing to the visitor’s emotions by telling the story of your product, company, and the purpose behind it all.
Poorly marketed products also include products that are simply overpriced or where the price increase is not accounted for. 32% of potential customers abandon their purchase because they have found a better offer elsewhere. Although it is not always advisable, or even possible, to match the price of your competitors, it can be truly detrimental not to. We recommend asking yourself questions such as: is there a reason that the competitor is cheaper than you? Are you offering something extra that the competitor is not that you should promote more?
Software makes it possible for customers to freely, easily, and quickly compare prices and information spanning thousands of websites. Consequently, it has never been easier to find a better deal. What is more, even seemingly insignificant price differences have shown to make the potential customer favor the competitor.
Recommend Reading: The Digital Customer Journey