A customer adds items to their shopping cart but fails to complete the purchase. Soon, the excitement for the brands turns into confusion about what the reason was.
This is called cart abandonment.
This can be frustrating for the brand as it turns into a loss of sales, eventually resulting in leaks in the sales funnel.
However, it is not entirely bad! That’s because businesses can still recover from abandoned carts by implementing various strategies.
In this article, we will look at what causes cart abandonment, abandoned cart recovery strategies, and some popular plugins that can help.
What are the reasons for abandoned carts?
According to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69.57%. Various factors can lead to cart abandonment, including:
- Unexpected costs: When customers see unexpected costs, such as high shipping fees, taxes, or additional fees, they may abandon their carts. You can add a shipping calculator and offer bundled pricing, to name a few options that help beat the unexpected costs.
- Complicated checkout process: A lengthy and complicated checkout process can discourage customers from completing their purchases. They do not have the patience or time to go through multiple pages or forms to complete their purchase. For WooCommerce stores, you can simplify this by using a one-page checkout or direct checkout using the Cashier plugin.
- Security concerns: Customers may hesitate to provide their personal and financial details due to security concerns. Or, if they find their preferred payment gateways missing, they may abandon the cart.
- Lack of trust: Lack of trust in the brand or the product can also cause cart abandonment. You can add customer reviews and testimonials to build trust. Moreover, clear refund and return policies strengthen trust.
- Technical issues: Technical problems, such as slow-loading pages or error messages, can frustrate customers and lead to cart abandonment. To tackle this problem, you must optimize site speed and fix broken links and errors while also ensuring mobile responsiveness.
- Comparison shopping: Customers may leave items in their cart while they shop around for better prices or deals. A few ways to do this are to use urgency and scarcity tactics and opt for a retargeting campaign with personalized ads.
Top eight abandoned cart recovery strategies
You can try some of these strategies and see your results.
Send reminder emails
One of the most effective ways to recover abandoned carts is by sending reminder emails. This could be a simple email reminding the customer that they have items in their cart or a more personalized email offering them a discount or free shipping.
You can send a maximum of two emails to keep nudging the customers to purchase.
A well-timed email can re-engage buyers and encourage them to purchase. The first email can be sent in the first hour itself when the purchase intent is still fresh. The next email is in the next 24 hours, and the final one after 48 hours. Ensuring that these reminder emails are laid out properly and synchronized establishes that the receivers are not overwhelmed by the emails, nor do they forget about the product they were about to purchase.
Add other necessary elements to the emails, such as a clear CTA that leads the receiver to the checkout page, making the process simple and without any frills.
Additionally, add the image and details of the product that is left in the cart, which reiterates the product in the minds of the receiver.
Here’s an example:
(Source: Really Good Emails)
Simplify the checkout process
Simplifying the checkout process can reduce cart abandonment rates. This can be done by removing unnecessary steps, such as account creation, and providing a clear progress bar to show customers how far they are in the process.
Likewise, a complicated process can easily lead the customer off-track. Aim for a seamless experience with minimal steps that reduce friction in the purchasing process.
This can include removing unnecessary fields, enabling guest checkout, and adding autofill fields to speed up the process. Furthermore, you can give regular shoppers options to save multiple addresses and payment details for quicker future transactions.
You can also use the checkout field editors to add, remove, and modify shipping and billing fields based on conditions wherever necessary.
Offer free shipping
Free shipping is often seen as a valuable perk by customers, as it helps to reduce the overall cost of their order and can make them feel like they are getting a good deal.
In case free shipping is not possible for brands to offer, brands can provide it for purchases beyond a specific threshold, which can also bring in higher sales. To highlight it, brands must communicate the shipping offers on the product page, in the cart and at checkout to avoid any surprises.
Customers are more likely to return to a company that offers them additional value, such as free shipping, and might even recommend the brand to others.
Ensure transparent pricing
Make sure all the costs are displayed to customers even though you offer free shipping. There may be taxes and additional fees, hence, it is vital to disclose the right prices.
Unexpected costs such as taxes and additional fees can put hurdles on the path of purchases. Mentioning upfront costs evades misunderstandings and confusion, leading to fewer cart abandonments.
This applies to any additional shipping charges as well.
In case there is additional pricing, you can showcase a cost breakdown on the product or the checkout page. This will make discounts or promotions clearly visible while also eliminating the possibility of abandoned carts and building trust.
Use exit-intent pop-ups
Exit-intent pop-ups are a powerful tool that displays a message to customers when they are just about to leave the website. This message can be a discount or a personalized offer that encourages the customer to complete their purchase.
(Source: TOMS)
Besides stopping a visitor from leaving the website, these pop-ups can be used for list building, collecting feedback, or creating urgency through discount timers.
A few of the best ways to do this are to offer a discount, free shipping, or a limited-time deal that can work wonders when you have to recover lost sales.
You can use the Icegram Engage plugin to show an irresistible offer or a resource to prevent visitors from abandoning your page or cart. Learn more about its pricing here.
Retargeting ads
Retargeting ads are ads that target customers who have abandoned their carts. These ads can be personalized and displayed on various platforms, such as social media or search engines.
Retargeting can be done through platforms such as Facebook, Google Ads, and Instagram while also personalizing them.
Ads that showcase abandoned products, along with discounts and testimonials, can increase the likeability of conversions. Along with this, drawing a line for the right frequency ensures that the engagement is kept on the positive side.
Offer multiple payment gateways
Limited payment gateways can create a ceiling for purchases.
Customers have different preferences and may prefer to use different payment methods, so providing a variety of options can increase the chances of customers completing their purchases.
This may include credit or debit card payments, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, other digital wallets, installment payments, and buy-now-pay-later options to help customers make larger purchases more manageable.
As security is an important aspect, you can display SSL certificates to ensure the customers that their payments are safe.
However, it’s important to ensure that the payment options offered are secure and reliable, which boosts customer confidence to use that payment method.
WooCommerce stores can also enable/disable payment methods for more targeted conversions. You can enable or disable these payment methods based on certain customer segments.
Use of AI for photos
AI-powered image recognition technology can help identify the items that a customer has abandoned in their cart. Further, brands can include photos of those items in follow-up emails or other communications.
This can be particularly effective for visually-driven products such as apparel, footwear, gadgets, jewelry, and other similar products where customers might be more likely to purchase after looking at the product. Images of abandoned items in the follow-up emails make up a visual reminder to purchase.
We believe that following these strategies can certainly help!
Don’t believe us?
StoreApps recently witnessed a whopping 185% increase in sales from the cart recovery email series. Learn more about it with this case study.
Conclusion
Dealing with abandoned carts is a significant challenge for businesses, but it can be overcome by implementing effective strategies.
Additionally, plugins such as AutomateWoo and Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce can automate the process and increase the chances of securing conversions.
It is essential to remember that no single strategy or plugin can guarantee 100% cart recovery. Still, by implementing a combination of strategies and plugins, businesses can significantly reduce their cart abandonment rates and increase their sales.
Wondering how to get started with email marketing? Get everything under one roof with Icegram Express!
FAQ
How long should I wait before sending an abandoned cart email?
The first email should be sent within an hour of abandonment. Follow-up emails can be sent within 24 hours and 48 hours if the customer hasn’t completed the purchase.
How do discount codes help in cart recovery?
Offering time-sensitive discount codes encourages customers to complete their purchases, especially if cost is a barrier.
Can push notifications and SMS help recover abandoned carts?
Yes, push notifications and SMS can complement email campaigns by delivering instant reminders and discount offers to encourage customers to complete their purchases.
How do exit-intent pop-ups help with abandoned cart recovery?
Exit-intent popups detect when a customer is about to leave and display a targeted