What Is the Difference Between Shopping Cart Abandonment and Checkout Abandonment?

While you may think that shopping cart abandonment is the same as abandoning a cart during checkout, the terms are not interchangeable.

Shopping Cart Abandonment

Let’s say you have added items to your cart but have not entered your payment and contact details. You may have changed your mind because the site is running too slow, or because the final price is not what you expected. 

Therefore, abandoning a shopping cart happens any time before you check out. 

Checkout Abandonment

Now, let’s say you visit another website but abandon the cart during checkout. You’ve already added the items to the cart you want to buy and have also entered your personal info, credit card number, expiration date, and security code details. 

However, something prevents you from making the purchase. 

For example, you might decide that the shipping cost is too high or you think that you’ll have to wait too long on the order. 

Maybe you’ve decided that the price, again, is more than you’re willing to pay. You might also have a problem adding a discount code for your order. Whatever the reason, you’ve decided you no longer want the products.

Checkout abandonment may happen if you check out as a guest or already have an established account. When a customer reaches the stage where they’re ready to buy and suddenly abandon their cart, it needs investigation.

You might liken this type of event to entering a car in a race whose engine dies before it reaches the finish line.

So, how do you keep your customer from leaving your site before they complete their order?

Handling Abandonment Before or During the Checkout Process?

Below are a couple of tips that can help you weather these types of e-commerce or m-commerce exits from your site.

Build a Strong Email List

To keep your customers from suddenly straying from your website, you need to build a strong email list. In fact, make it your goal to invest in a continually growing list to build a solid customer base. This opt-in list can be used when a customer gets moody and leaves your site before they complete a transaction.

To do this, you need to ask people to sign up for the list via an embedded form on your website, by way of a flyout, or by adding a pop-up. 

Use your email list to remind shoppers to revisit your site and finish their order. Research shows that this approach allows you to reach five times more customers and recover as many as 18% more abandoned carts.

Therefore, building an email list and using the information to reduce abandonment is well worth the effort.

Include a Cart Saver Popup

“Hey, where are you going?”

This is what a popup seems to say whenever you’re about to quit a site. However, the message may be a little more direct and persuasive.

For instance, the popup might read, “Get Another 10% Off if You Order in the Next 10 Seconds!” 

Or, it may plead with you – “Wait, don’t leave all that fashion in your bag! Take an additional $20 off by using Discount Code Fashion 20.”

It might even ask a question: “Would you like to get an additional $15.00 off of your order? Add your email and name and receive a $15.00 voucher now.”

Using this type of device can significantly help reduce the problem of abandonment. 

When a person adds items to a cart and tries to leave your site, the action triggers a popup to appear on either the cart or checkout page. 

So, you can use this tool to reduce a shopping cart abandonment or checkout abandonment problem, whichever applies at the time.

Abandoning a shopping cart, whether before or during checkout, tells you that your customer is not receiving what they expected, or is feeling frustrated about the purchase. After all, they went through several steps and suddenly changed their mind.

This may lead you to wonder where the rate for abandoning a cart should fall.

Ecommerce studies reveal that an average rate of 68% is typical. Therefore, you want to strive to get a rate that falls below this mark.

To figure the rate for shopping cart abandonment or for exiting at checkout, you’ll need to divide the total number of completed purchases by the number of abandoned carts. Subtract the result from one before multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.

For instance, let’s say your customers completed five purchases but abandoned 20 shopping carts. In this scenario, the cart abandonment rate is 75% – something you want to work at reducing.

What are the Best Methods to Use to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment?

The checkout process on your website should not feature glitches and should be optimized for both convenience and efficiency. Make sure the payment process goes smoothly by adding clear messaging. This will allow visitors to add the needed information without difficulty. 

To ensure your cart doesn’t suffer from loneliness, you can work with your web designer to streamline navigation and the user experience. Make sure you include the following amenities so your shopper has a rewarding experience.

Show the Savings at Checkout

You can feature a promo code or a first-time discount to your buyer that is deducted from the purchase price. Doing so makes a customer feel like they’re getting a good deal. In turn, they will feel less inclined to change their mind about their purchase.

Offer Several Options for Payment

Give your customer a chance to opt for a preferred method of payment. This is helpful, as the shopper does not have to re-enter billing details whenever they shop on your site. Find out what payment options your customers like and include the proper integrations.

Make Shipping Free

Because free shipping lowers the purchase cost, a customer is less inclined to reconsider a buy, especially if that purchase is on impulse.

Jungle Scout states that 66% of consumers want and expect free shipping when they shop online. Around 80% of buyers expect this gratuity when ordering a certain amount of merchandise.

Add a Strong Call to Action (CTA) During Checkout

A customer will easily abandon their cart if the CTA is not easily understood. This is not the time to add something you think is “cute” or “witty.” Just produce the words, “Buy Now,” and make things as simple as sipping coffee in the morning.

Make sure your visitors understand that they’re able to review their order before they hit the button to pay. You’ll remove a lot of indecisiveness if you design your website this way.

Contact Website Depot to Boost Your Website’s Performance Now

To ensure you continue to expand as a business, work with a digital marketing agency that places the growth of your online company first. Call Website Depot today at (888) 477-9540 to get the marketing advice and guidance you need.