The following is a guest post by Juliette Anderson.
One of the biggest challenges many businesses face is reducing cart abandonment rates. That’s because the average cart abandonment rate among industries is a whopping 70%.
Thus, for every person purchasing from you, two end up leaving without buying anything. This translates to missed opportunities to grow your business, build revenue, and develop a stronger online presence.
Why Do Customers Leave?
Selling on Amazon is a complete science, and to master it, we have listed the main reasons why people abandon their shopping carts:
- High prices: If your prices are typically higher than those of your competitors, then it’s highly likely that they’ll abandon their carts and go elsewhere. So, if you don’t have an excellent value proposition that will convince them to purchase from you, then you need to have the best price in the market and state it clearly.
- Shipping costs: High shipping fees can also be a downside.
- Hassle: Forcing your customers to register to your site before they can shop or asking them for a lot of information on forms can also cause them to leave.
- Doubt: Is your site trustworthy to begin with? Can customers easily return goods? How do they choose the right size?
- Slow site: If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, then users are bound to leave.
Now that we’ve addressed these reasons, here are some of the effective strategies that let you reduce cart abandonment:
1. Offer Free Shipping
Customers will leave your online store over competitors offering free shipping. So, choosing whether you want to offer free shipping can be tricky but something you need to consider, even if it means raising product prices to accommodate shipping costs.
That’s because more people are willing to spend on goods if they offer free shipping. Most customers wouldn’t make a purchase online if it weren’t for free shipping. While this concept is often debated, there’s no denying it. Free shipping can positively impact your sales in the long run.
2. Provide Accurate Product Descriptions
This might come off as pretty obvious, but one of the main reasons shoppers tend to abandon items in their carts is because of uncertainty. Most sellers often fail to include a valuable product description, even if they can consist of one.
Because most of your customers are shopping online and can’t see or feel the product they want to buy, it’s your responsibility as a seller to offer as much helpful information as possible. Doing so gives people a deeper understanding of the product they’re considering buying. Your product descriptions must balance features and benefits.
You should also describe your product value to show customers how it personally benefits them, instead of just listing the features.
3. Build Trust
One of the reasons why shoppers abandon their carts is the lack of social proof. To fix this situation, make sure you gather feedback more intelligently.
You can use an app tool that lets you get in touch with shoppers, asking them what their experience was with their recent purchase. You should also be aware of every new review that they create.
4. Create a Dynamic Pricing Strategy
One of the most significant factors that make a customer purchase is the price. In fact, 82% of consumers agree that price is one of the most critical factors in product selection.
So, to ensure that your Amazon prices are appealing and competitive to customers, have an SKU-specific pricing strategy for your whole catalog.
When you remain current and adapt to the ever-changing market dynamics, you can avoid the trap of shrinking your prices so that you can create demand or win the Buy Box.
By having a dynamic pricing strategy that’s AI-backed, your products are sold at optimal prices between revenue and profitability. You’ll also be able to gather insight into where your competitors are taking sales away from you. That way, you can price more appropriately.
5. Be Transparent with Upfront Costs
Shoppers don’t want to purchase items that will incur additional costs at check-out. However, if you provide prices upfront, like taxes and shipping fees, you can significantly reduce sales friction.
That’s because your customers know how much money they expect to shell out from the get-go.
6. Use Vendor-Powered Coupons
Are you a seller with a Pro Merchant account? You can use Amazon’s built-in promotion tools.
As with physical coupons, VPCs let your customers get a dollar or a percentage off the product’s regular price.
Not only does it enhance product visibility and click-through rates, but it’s also an excellent tactic for boosting conversion rates.
By using sales promotions, VPCs in this case, you can create a sense of urgency and, at the same time, a compelling call-to-action and other Email Marketing Tactics that will motivate your customers to complete the transaction with more urgency.
7. Offer Several Payment Options
As soon as your customers land on your check-out page, they’re more likely to proceed with the payment. However, many consumers still abandon their carts at the last minute because of a lack of convenient payment methods.
Thus, offering a single payment method won’t likely cut it. It will only give your shoppers unnecessary obstacles.
8. Optimize Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines
Many of your prospects are also more likely to return to check out if you have an email strategy that will convince them when this happens.
Use this strategy by sending your customers an urgent email notifying them of your product’s popularity and the discounts they’ll miss. Another thing to remember is that 64% of your customers open their emails based on your subject line. Thus, using abandoned email subject lines are also key here.
Over to You
So, there you have it. There’s no doubt that cart abandonment is one of the most common issues many eCommerce business owners face. So, keep your prospects in mind if you want to decrease cart abandonment rates. Also, when adding them to your remarketing campaign, ensure you get as many sales as possible. Good luck!
