Reduce Checkout Abandonment With These 7 Easy Tips

Be clear on delivery

Your customer has chosen their product, they’re super excited to place their order, but they get to the checkout and find delivery costs are more than they expected. Their £30 bargain order is now going to be £35.95 with shipping costs. An added 20% of their spend has appeared – to them – out of nowhere. Naturally, they will leave your site and check out competitors to see if they can get lower cost, or free, shipping on the same item.

In fact, the number one reason for cart abandonment is unexpected delivery costs, with 55% of shoppers abandoning their purchase due to unexpected shipping fees according to Optinmonster.

You can reduce your checkout abandonment rate by being upfront about delivery fees, taxes, or other costs they may incur throughout their shopping experience. This hands over power to the customer, as they can make a more informed decision on their purchase. The way you display information can also make a big difference in the shopping experience. Include it next to the item’s price, in banners on the top of the page, or run special ads on pages so that customers have the information in front of them from the offset.

Offer guest checkouts

It’s totally understandable that you want to capture the data from new sign-ups to your site at the point of purchase, but it could also be hindering your sales. People want shopping online to be seamless, convenient and quick – guest checkouts are the way to do that.

Optinmonster found that 34% of people will abandon their carts after being prompted to register or sign up before checking out. Make customers happy, and in turn more sales, but offering to checkout as a guest – or by logging in with PayPal and social media accounts. Eliminating this barrier you could also see an increase in repeat business from these users as they know the buying process with you is efficient and frictionless.

Still wanting sign ups? It’s great to capture this information to personalise customers online experiences for future purchases, and of course, marketing purposes. You can still do this by offering the chance to sign up with you after they’ve made their first purchase. At this point, they’re much more likely to then spend time registering an account as they’ve had a more positive buying experience. A fool-proof way of getting the sales, data and keeping your checkout abandonment rate down.

More ways to pay

A study by comScore shows that 56% of shoppers would like to see a variety of payment options when checking out online. Today, there are more ways for customers to pay for items than ever before.

Offering a variety of methods is undoubtedly going to increase your sales by catering to individual preferences. It also boosts your brand positioning, showing that you’re up to date and moving with the times – especially by catering to predominantly younger audiences who prefer to pay using Apple Pay, Google Wallets and P2P methods.

Naturally, you need to take into consideration increased merchant service fees, but with more options, you’re appealing to a wider audience, eliminating reasons to abandon cart and in turn, increasing the likelihood of transactions.

If you sell internationally, keep in mind local payment methods and providers to cater to this segment of your audience.

Increase trust

Building trust is critical in any business, and especially important when you want website visitors to turn into active buyers. To do this, you need to show that you’re a trustworthy site, especially at the checkout when people will be entering sensitive information.

Baymard cites that 17% of people will exit the buying process due to a lack of trust in the site with their card details.

A way to show customers you’re a seller to be trusted is through displaying security logos and badges in a noticeable place on transaction forms. There’s plenty out there to choose from, however, with consumers being more clued up on data security, choosing the right one is key.

Interestingly, research conducted by Baymard has shown that users are less concerned with the actual security of the page (due to lack of technical knowledge) and will opt for ‘perceived security’, or in other words, the most recognisable trust seal displayed.

By using logos that customers recognise, you’ll show that you’re a seller customers can put their trust in which will help reduce your checkout abandonment rate instantly. You’ll also eliminate last-minute safety concerns that may result in abandoned checkouts, increasing your conversion rates and sales.

Progress bars

There’s nothing worse than a lengthy checkout process.

Imagine being in a store, trying to make your purchase and being asked for your email, date of birth, a series of preference questions, if you have a membership card, where you live, what you do and if you can recite the entire works of Shakespeare on the spot.

It wouldn’t be the best experience for the customer who just wants to buy their items.  In order to get online shoppers to convert, you need to eliminate all the data capturing questions and extra bits to fill out, making it as seamless as possible.

By displaying a progress bar at the top of the checkout pages, you can alleviate the concerns of how long the purchase will take. Display the steps in simple chunks, like the below.

Call to actions

Just because your customer has added an item to their basket, doesn’t mean that sale is necessarily in-the-bag (excuse the pun).

Implementing strong Calls To Action is key in driving that all-important sale. You can use cleverly worded CTA’s paired with the progress bar idea above for more consistency to the customer’s journey. If you’re wanting to create a sense of urgency in the final stages, make sure that the tone remains the same as your brand guidelines and it’s not too jolting or out of place for the customer to be put off.

Placing larger, more colourful, and prominent action buttons on the page can also help guide the customers through the checkout process, cutting through any other distractions that may be on-page.