Losing Business at Checkout? How to Increase Shopping Cart Conversions

Don’t think you need to increase shopping cart conversions for your e-commerce site?

Think again!

Let this sink in—the typical online store loses 68% of its potential sales to shopping cart abandonment. Many online retailers think that these losses are just part of doing business as online—shoppers can easily change their minds at the last second. Perhaps they never intended to purchase anything in the first place.

Window shoppers can certainly still exist online. But the majority of the time, your website is the real problem, not the fickle customer.

I know what you’re thinking—fixing a website is time-intensive and expensive. You’re right, it can be. That’s money and time you could spend getting your message out there with new content and PPC advertising. But what’s the point of bringing new customers to your site if they’re not going to covert? That’s like putting air in a leaky tire.

Best to plug the hole before refilling or you’ll be making a lot of stops at the gas station.

Your shopping cart is at the very bottom of your sales funnel, so if it’s not converting leads to sales, all of your other marketing efforts could be for nothing. And while you can’t recoup all of your losses, with the right strategies to increase shopping cart conversions, you can save nearly a third of them. Do nothing and that’s cash left on the table.

Fixing a Checkout Process That Is Too Complex

One of the main point of online retail is to make things easier for the customer. However, many online stores’ checkout processes have become too complex to be convenient. What I mean by “complex” is that many sites force customers to take extra steps in order to complete their purchase. In marketing, we call this “friction.” Friction is a pretty broad terms—it can be anything from a page that loads slowly to a typo—but when we’re talking about increasing shopping cart conversions, we can narrow the definition a bit.

For instance, perhaps the most flagrant cause of shopping cart friction is the form that your potential customers need to fill out before checkout. When your customers make a purchase, you want to gather some of their information so you can continue marketing to them. But making them give too much information can backfire. According to one study, reducing a 5-step checkout process to one that only requires one step to complete can boost sales as much as 14%.

Other ways you can reduce friction for your customers:

  • Support multiple browsers
  • Support mobile
  • Don’t force users to register
  • Support multiple methods of payment
  • Ensure that your customer’s cart persists by using cookies

You should also be sure to continue testing your checkout process to ensure that you continue to stay optimized as things change.

Increase Shopping Cart Conversions by Focusing on User Experience

Even in the digital age, customer service is alive and well—at least, it should be if you want your business to continue closing sales. In fact, focusing on customer service can increase your conversion rate by 11%, according to this study.

Make your site more personal. Create a sensory experience for your customers by including quality images, detailed descriptions of products, or even video demonstrations of your products. Provide real-time cart updates to reinforce the idea of “shopping” for your customer. Give your customers estimated shipping dates for their purchases. Offer free and international shipping. Retarget your customers with PPC advertising and email marketing. All of these strategies can help you increase shopping cart conversions for your business.

Ready to take your online business to the next level? Talk to us today so you can start seeing more conversions!