Abandoned orders can be the biggest revenue drainer of any online business. It takes a lot of effort to bring visitors to your website and convince them to have a look at your merchandize. It is even tougher to make them buy your products. The whole conversion process can be draining, intellectually and financially. That’s precisely why abandoned orders can be hugely frustrating in many ways.
Shopping Cart Abandonment is a Major Threat
Almost every online business, big and small, established and nascent, suffer from such situations in which customers hit the buy tab but exit the site before the sale is completed. Big businesses may absorb the after-effects of such abandonment but if your sales volume is small and profits wafer-thin, you could be in serious trouble.
Troubling Stats
Let’s face the facts head-on. Shopping cart abandonment can be your biggest enemy and it could get even worse if you don’t find out a way to stop or maybe even minimize such incidents and fast. Studies reveal that close to 90 per cent of online shoppers have abandoned their shopping cart more than once. The index for shopping cart abandonment globally stands at a scary 71 per cent. It is evident from these figures that most online entrepreneurs are yet to find a surefire way of dealing with the problem.
What You Can Do in Practical Terms
The best way to deal with abandoned orders is to accept that they will happen; no matter how hard you try to stop it. They are an inevitable part of your business; just like taxes are. The good news is that you can minimize the abandonment rates. So, you can breathe easy finally after all those depressing statistics.
Customers in various phases of the buying cycle may make sudden decisions to abandon the process cart. A good number of them will leave abruptly. Ecommerce experts say this does not reflect badly on your shopping cart or the processes. The only conclusion that you can draw from this that the customer was not ready to buy as yet. At the same time, there are some hidden mysteries which can be tough to decipher. Don’t waste time trying to decode them and focus on what you can do to take care of those customers who might be abandoning carts for very valid reasons.
Some Workable Solutions
How good is your business website? Is it easy to negotiate? Can customers find what they are looking for quickly and effortlessly? Buyers won’t deal with a site that lacks a professional feel and look. It is important to project trust. Gaining buyers confidence and living up to their trust is the key to conversion. Fix those hazy graphics and spruce up designs so that they inspire trust.
Let your website have symbols that are clear trust marks. The very presence of such signs can provide people the signal they are looking for to go ahead with the purchase. Display facts on your website about your tie-ups with trusted merchants and payment resources to reduce instances of abandoned carts.
Improving website usability is another assured way of reducing the average abandoned order numbers.
