Have you ever got to the checkout of an online store and given up from sheer frustration? I know I have. And we’re not alone. According to the Baymard Institute, between 70% and 80% of shoppers abandon their carts.
Did you know that a shocking 70-80% of online purchases are never completed?
That’s 7 or 8 out of 10 customers who get to the checkout and then decide to back out.
You might have heard of this as either an abandoned cart (when it happens before they get to the checkout) or an abandoned checkout (when it happens at the payment page).
It doesn’t matter what you call it, you want to avoid either of these situations as much as possible because abandoned carts mean that all your hard work in getting a customer to your website has not resulted in a sale.
And no small business wants that.
Why do customers abandon their carts?
When a client contacts me about abandoned carts, I can just about guarantee that their website will suffer from one of these top 3 problems:
- Unexpected costs at checkout.
- Complicated checkout process
- Not enough credibility markers / reassurance on the payment page.
It’s crazy when you see these things on websites when they’re so easy to avoid and simple to fix.
Unexpected costs at checkout
Customers expect that all taxes, fees and charges are included in the price of the items on your website.
So, in Australia, if your prices don’t include the Goods and Services Tax (GST), customers can feel cheated when they think they’re buying something for, say $99 and, once at the checkout, GST is added and the item becomes $108.90.
Australian law also requires you to show prices that include all fees and charges that apply.
I realise that some businesses want to point out that their goods or services are actually $99 and the ‘big bad government’ is making them charge the customer this ‘nasty’ tax.
To that, I say, build a bridge…and get over it. We’ve had GST in Australia for 25 years! We all know it’s charged on most things. Leaving it out of your pricing is just being petty.
Complicated checkout processes
If your checkout takes customers too much time to complete, takes them away from your website or makes them reinput information they’ve already input earlier in the buying process, your chances of them completing a sale are reduced significantly.
You don’t want them thinking that it’s too hard to buy from you and looking for others in your category who have an easier buying process.
It should be EASY to buy from you, not like tendering for a governement job or trying to fathom how the Telstra website works.
Not enough credibility markers / reassurance on the payment page
If customers don’t feel safe handing over their details to you, they won’t complete a sale.
Simple things such as offering a couple of payment options or reminding them that you have a secure payment process can help reassure customers and make them feel more comfortable buying from you.
Even if you don’t have a complicated checkout process or include all the fees, when customers are about to hit the ‘Pay now’ button, they can still have doubts. This is where it’s a great idea to have a small amount of reassuring text (called ‘micro copy’) on the checkout page. Micro copy reminds customers why their purchase is a good idea, what benefits it will give them and encourages them to hit that ‘Pay now’ button…and a little reassuring email or ‘success’ message once they’ve hit ‘Pay now’ is also a great reassurance.
Why do abandoned carts matter?
This may be a no-brainer, but I’ll say it anyway. Having seven out of ten of your customers get to the checkout and then back out is bad for business. To get customers to this stage, you have created brand awareness, shown you understand their problem or job they want done and demonstrated that you have the solution they’re looking for. These customers are ready to buy and so should be the easisest people to sell to.
So, working out why they didn’t go ahead with their purchase and fixing that problem will increase sales…and take so much less effort than trying to attract and nurture new clients…who may also get to the checkout and bail.
Imagine what it would feel like to capture an additional 5 or 10% of sales. Even if you were to turn around the smallest percentage of these customers, it’s worth doing.
How to reduce cart abandonment
Fact: You can’t fix something when you don’t know what’s broken.
So, the first thing you need to do is test your checkout process from the user’s point of view.
Have a friend open your website on their phone (using an incognito window) and go through the purchasing process.
Ask them:
- How smooth was the purchasing experience?
- Were there any parts of the process where they had to pause? If so, why?
- How comfortable would they be buying from this business?
You may be surprised at what they say stopped them from going through with the purchase. Perhaps it was that there was no reminder of what was included in their purchase. Or maybe there was no success message telling them what they could expect next. Perhaps there were no suitable secure payment options.
Whatever they tell you is GOLD, as it means you can now fix the problem…and increase your sales.
Other ways to reduce cart abandonment
If you’re too busy to work on this yourself, it might be more efficient for you to book a web copy audit by a professional. Someone like me.
My web copy audits show you where to focus so your customers have oodles of reasons to choose you out of everyone else in your category. And they analyse your checkout process to make sure it’s customer-conversion-friendly.
Don’t settle for ‘tick and flick’ web copy audits
My audits are detailed, tailored and thorough. There are no simple six-step checklists in my audits. Checklists you could have downloaded for free.
I bring years of experience as a business owner and copywriter to my audits, so you can turn your copy from ‘Meh’ to ‘Heck yeah!’ and convert more visitors to customers.
But I can only do that after I…
- challenge you to articulate your offers in ways you haven’t thought of before
- identify why your website isn’t generating sales or conversions
- find out what your website really says about you and your business.
Key takeaways:
To avoid customers abandoning their carts
- make sure there are no unexpected costs at the checkout and that the process is EASY
- add credibility markers and reassurance on the payment page
- get expert help from a professional (like me!) with an obligation-free call.
Reach out
Want to get my eyeballs on your copy? Let’s have an obligation-free chat.
