Cart abandonment is frustrating. It looks like your ecommerce site visitors are about to buy—after all, they put items in their cart—but they leave without making a purchase. What’s the deal?
You’re not alone. The average cart abandonment rate is a staggering 70%. That means 7 out of 10 people who add items to their cart on your site won’t end up purchasing from you.
Consumers have short attention spans. If checkout is too complicated, or they get distracted, they won’t buy. Sometimes there are roadblocks that prevent them from purchasing—their coupon code expired or they realize shipping is expensive. Some consumers might still be in the consideration phase and are using their cart to save products they like.
Not all engaged consumers are ready to buy, but when they are, you can make it an easy decision for them.
Keep reading for our tips on making consumers want to buy from you.
How to increase ecommerce sales
There are many reasons why consumers decide to abandon their carts. But here’s the one thing you should focus on: your shopping experience shouldn’t give your customers any reason to hesitate when they’re in the conversion stage at the end of their purchase journey with you.
Not only can a positive shopping experience do the obvious—increase conversions and reduce cart abandonment—it also encourages your customers to buy again. You get more customers and they stay loyal.
Creating a great shopping experience isn’t a one-time project. Successful companies never stop monitoring, testing, and improving their shopping experience.
To help you get started, download Criteo’s Quick Guide: 4 Hacks to Grow Your Ecommerce Sales. Here’s a preview of what’s inside:
1. Compete on service (not just price)
In Criteo’s Why We Buy survey, we asked 1,000 US shoppers what keeps them coming back to a brand—they love a good deal, but they also appreciate great service.
What’s the key to providing great service? Consistency.
Look at every touchpoint where your customers can interact with your brand. Make sure they’re getting the same level of service on every device and channel. Is your Twitter account super responsive but no one checks the email address listed on your site? Identify the weak spots and work on having a unified approach to customer service.
2. Empower your customers
More than half of consumers say they regularly use online reviews to inform their purchase decisions, according to a study by Nielsen and the Better Business Bureau.
When consumers find something they like on your site, they need to feel like they’re making an informed decision.
If you don’t already have customer reviews on your product pages, this should be a priority. There are many tools in the market that make it easy to enable reviews on your site or aggregate reviews from around the web.
3. Build a website made for shopping
Ecommerce sites attract high-intent shoppers. In Criteo’s Shopper Survey, we talked to 2,400 consumers in the US and discovered that 22% of shoppers who start their product search on an ecommerce site already know the exact item they’re looking for. And 21% know the type of item they want.
That’s why your product pages must include all the information a customer needs to make a fast decision: high-quality visuals, detailed descriptions, user-generated photos and reviews, shipping information, and other perks like a free gift with purchase or free return shipping.
4. Remind your customers
Unexpected software updates, an accidental tap that closes an app, a social media notification—there are a million things that can interrupt checkout. It’s up to you to bring those customers back to complete their purchase.
Retargeting ads let you remind your customers about the items they looked at on your site as they go about their digital lives. Work with a retargeting partner to reach shoppers with personalized product recommendation ads displayed on their favorite websites and apps. An advanced retargeting solution can help you create dynamic ads that display the products most likely to convert every individual shopper.
You know what to do—now it’s time to get started. Download Criteo’s Quick Guide: 4 Hacks to Grow Your Ecommerce Sales for expanded content and step-by-step instructions for converting more customers.
