Cart abandonment rates have been increasing and show no signs of decreasing anytime soon. According to a study by a reputable research firm, in 2024, the rate was 70.19%, an 11% increase since 2006.
This data is significant because it shows a clear trend of increasing cart abandonment rates. Cart abandonment negatively impacts businesses’ sales. Therefore, working on what causes it and finding solutions can help reduce the rates.
The leading cause of cart abandonment is a customer encountering a flaw during the shopping experience. This forces most customers to leave their carts and look for the products somewhere.
Other significant causes of cart abandonment include high shipping, late delivery times, limited payment options, technical issues, account creation, and lack of trust from your customer. However, all these causes have solutions that you can work on.
Table of Contents
High-Shipping Cost
The leading cause of cart abandonment, which often disappoints customers, is the high shipping cost.
Many customers find the shipping cost too high at the checkout, leading them to abandon their carts. In some cases, the shipping cost even exceeds the price of the product they desire.
It would help if you were transparent with your customers about any hidden charges, such as taxes, that will give them a price shock. For most customers, this is more annoying.
Solution
The only solution to high shipping costs is to remove them. You can remove the shipping fee and offer your customers free shipping.
Doing so reduces a significant barrier to purchase and increases your average order value.
Customers might be more inclined to add more items to their cart to qualify for free shipping, which can boost your sales.
The fee is often expensive for you to cover since it might result in losses; thus, you can add it to the product cost. In this way, customers might think you are giving them free delivery and, therefore, complete the checkout.
You can also inform your customers about the shipping fee before they proceed to the checkout. State all the expenses, such as shipping or taxes, from the start.
Long Delivery Times
A high percentage of customers need fast delivery before purchasing anything online.
Most online stores reveal the exact shipping time once the customer reaches the checkout.
The delivery time depends on the store locations and where the customer wants the products shipped.
Additionally, the type of item also determines how long the delivery will take before the products arrive at the customer.
For example, when a customer orders a custom item, the production process will likely take a long time. On the other hand, households and perishable goods need to be delivered quickly.
Solution
You can opt for express delivery options for faster delivery. However, these services might be expensive.
Please tell your customers the expected delivery dates once they order the item. Some customers are always comfortable with long delivery dates, so you don’t need to opt for express deliveries.
Technical Issues
Even on a blogging website, technical issues have affected the user experience (UX). These technical issues affect a store site’s overall customer experience (CX), resulting in a high cart abandonment rate. Some of the significant technical problems include slow loading speeds, many pop-ups, complex interfaces, descriptions or photos that don’t load, and missing content.
Technical issues and site crashes affect most customer experiences, especially checkout. Technical errors sometimes result in a lack of trust, forcing customers to look for trusted brands, especially with their credit card information.
Solution
To ensure your store site loads fast, you need to;
- Optimize images
- Minimize redirects
- Improve site structure and code
- Reduce apps and plugins
- Compress images
- Reduce the number of HTTP requests
How people shop on mobile or desktop devices can also affect the cart abandonment rate. You can use heat maps to measure this.
Analyzing how customer behavior changes from one device to another allows one to look for opportunities to enhance the user experience on every device.
Compulsory Account Creation
Your customers need a convenient way of shopping online without hassle. They must finalize the process without filling out forms or creating accounts, especially if they plan to buy only once.
However, most businesses mainly insist on account creation to gather customer information to target them in marketing.
Most customers are not comfortable sharing their bank information or even their emails. To make it worse, you give them the task of remembering their logins when they want to shop again.
Solution
You don’t need to force buyers to create accounts; you need to offer guest checkout, where they can shop without logging in.
By offering guest checkout, you provide a convenient and respectful option for customers who prefer to avoid creating an account. This way, they can proceed with their purchase without any unnecessary steps.
Sometimes, customers who want to keep their information private ask you for too much personal information. You need to analyze the account creation and see why they are bouncing or not proceeding.
Lack of Trust
Customers need time to trust you and start sharing their credit card details. It is a significant cause of cart abandonment: If customers can’t trust you with their financial information, they abandon their carts.
The significant issues that force customers to start having trust issues with your business include outdated layouts, design flaws, a lack of an SSL certificate, and missing images.
Solution
Social proof is one of the most effective ways to build customer trust. This reassures them that your store is trustworthy. By optimizing your product pages with customer reviews, endorsements, and testimonials, you are showing your commitment to their safety and satisfaction.
You can also work on designing your website layout to look professional, using your brand color and logo. Your store should have an SSL certificate, give customers multiple payment options, provide information about your return policy, and be a consistent brand.
Conclusions
You can prevent the cart-abandoned rates on your store. The first step is understanding the significant causes of cart abandonment and then working on strategies to help you control it. In this article, we have given you five critical causes of cart abandonment and their solutions.
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You can immediately implement these theoretical solutions and practical steps in your store. The solutions can help solve the considerable cart abandonment in your store.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the significant causes of cart abandonment?
High shipping costs, compulsory account creation, long shipping times, technical issues, and lack of trust are significant causes of cart abandonment.
How can I increase my store loading speed?
Site speed is a significant factor in determining your overall customer experience. To increase your store’s speed, you can compress images, reduce plugins and apps, limit HTTP requests, minimize the number of redirects, and leverage site caching.
