eCommerce cart abandonment rates are notoriously high – between 60 – 89% across industry sectors. Those numbers represent a wide margin of missed revenue opportunities for sellers.

With all the automation and data available in eCommerce transactions, it’s easy to forget there is a psychological transaction happening as well. We have data showing what people do and don’t like about online shopping. Artificial Intelligence is enabling greater personalization for shoppers than ever before. Read on for tips about how understanding the consumer’s mindset and behaviors can be a robust strategic foundation to reduce cart abandonment and increase re-engagement and sales.

The Customer Point of View

eCommerce sellers might think clicking away from a cart in large numbers is a peculiar habit unique to online shoppers. It isn’t. Since people began trading shells for furs, consumers have balanced psychological considerations based on status, comparison, object utility, and price.

Imagine you are working in a brick-and-mortar department store fitting room during a busy holiday season. Shoppers show up with loads of clothes in their cart; they try a few on and leave the rest on the floor in the fitting room.

You could say shoppers in that situation “abandon” a large percentage of their original selection to settle on a much smaller purchase if they buy at all.

This illustrates the “lookie-loo” psychological aspect of the eCommerce buyer’s journey. The Baymard Institute found that “just-looking” was one of the top reasons for cart abandonment for 58% of US shoppers.

What makes it even more interesting is that for some sectors, people don’t have any intention of buying at all.

Statista shows the abandonment rate is highest – 80-89% – for fantasy shopping carts that browsers fill with the auto, vacation, and luxury wardrobe of their dreams.

For expensive items, like plane tickets, hotels, or high ticket retail, comparison shoppers may create several carts across websites to hold the best price until they make a decision.

Carts filled with practical items such as groceries, consumer electronics, and pharmaceuticals have lower abandonment rates of 61 – 70%.

Create a Strategy

Stepping back to consider the customer journey shows us several possible conversions before the sale. Creating a cart abandonment strategy funnel will include a series of conversions tied to interest, establishing trust, and tracking customer behavior on the website for retargeting.

A dashboard for managing different carts in different stages is essential for tracking results. Share on X

Check out Abandoned Cart Recovery from Woocommerce as an option. It includes functionalities to make it easy to implement and track many of the tips below.

Key Components of Cart Abandonment Strategy

Online commerce requires a tricky balance: customers don’t want a complicated checkout but don’t always want to sign in, and first-time buyers are still building trust. Below are several best practices to help your customer navigate their buyer’s journey with you.

Cart Abandonment Prevention Tips

Optimize the Mobile Experience

Let’s say your website visitor is one of the 69% of consumers who used their mobile device to pay for a purchase in 2021. They may want to switch to their phone or tablet to complete the purchase. Consumers now expect a seamless experience across devices.

Mobile purchases are becoming more and more common. In 2020 approximately 30% of US Smartphone users paid for a purchase with their phone. By 2023, Emarketer reports this number will increase to 33.6% of all smartphone users in the United States.

Build Trust

Reassure buyers that your site is secure with McAfee, Norton trustee, or BBB accredited verification.

Eliminate Friction at Checkout

21% of survey respondents abandoned carts because of issues with the checkout process. Be sure your interface is simple and transparent.

Offer guest checkout, but be sure to ask for their email address early in the process.

Depending on your product, you already know a high percentage are just looking. Make it easy for them to convert to a buyer when ready with a Save for Later option.

Also, remember to make it easy for them to pay you. Accepting multiple forms of payment is a necessity for larger sites. Some smaller sellers are broadening beyond just one payment vendor as well.

Finally, be mindful of shipping costs. People don’t like to pay for shipping. In 2018, high shipping costs were the number one reason for cart abandonment. Simplify shipping or offer free shipping.

Manage Coupon Strategy

People really like coupons, and they really don’t like it when they don’t work. In fact, Statista reports that a coupon that doesn’t work is the second most common reason for cart abandonment. Manage your coupon strategy to decrease the chances your buyer will try to use an outdated coupon.

Don’t Ask Me Twice

Statistics show that people don’t like re-entering their information. Use that insight to encourage them to create an account so they won’t have to type in their information multiple times.

You can also encourage them to sign in using a social account such as Facebook. This also helps make retargeting easier, as you’ll see in an upcoming section.

Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

Consider using AI-enhanced tools to help predict when a person is likely to leave the cart. This can allow you to use popups to catch them before they leave to remind them of what’s in the cart or ask them to sign in (give you their email address) to save their cart.

AI tools can also point out if there is a leak in the sales funnel leading to higher cart abandonment rates. Then sellers can take steps to keep the customers in the funnel and increase checkout conversions.

Finally, AI tools enable personalized offers on the cart page for incentive to finish or upsell in the funnel. Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Inviting Them to Return: Email Marketing

With average abandonment rates as high as they are, getting an email address from visitors should be a primary conversion goal because it provides a way to contact them later.

One common way to collect email addresses is with a popup. The popup can be shown based on time on-site or even visitor actions, for example, if they are about to click away.

Email is also another area where AI in eCommerce can be helpful. Merchants can connect insights about shopper behavior with email marketing to produce even better results. Sellers can now follow up on abandoned searches, not just carts.

AI tools help sellers identify customer buying intent and send relevant and personalized emails. Klaviyo is one option that integrates with WooCommmerce.

The WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Recovery Dashboard features a place to set up email nurture series for abandoned cart management. Timing is vital for email series. So are headline topics.

Be sure you split test email campaigns to see which emails work best. Keep the tone relaxed and friendly, not pushy. Here are some basic guidelines:

Email #1: 1-5 hours after abandonment

1. Include a subject line that grabs attention. Use their name if possible.
2. Introduction text as to why you’re emailing. “Hey Joan, We noticed you left some items in your shopping cart.”
3. The specific items left in the cart.
4. An incentive to go back and complete the purchase (a discount, low inventory, etc.)
5. Call to action or checkout button.
6. Social proof as to why the customer should complete the purchase.
7. A link to get help in your email as well.

Email #2: 24 hours later

You don’t want to overwhelm the customer with emails. 24 hours is a good break before sending the second email. Test this and see what works best for your audience. The second email follows the same basic formula as the first and includes an expiration date.

Email #3: 48 hours after abandonment

The third email should let the customer know this is the last reminder they’ll get – you don’t want them to get annoyed and unsubscribe! Reiterate their offer or cart is about to expire. You might also include additional social proof as to why they need the items.

Retargeting on Social and Google

Retargeting simply means that once a visitor abandons the cart, you can set up a campaign using cookies that will show them ads reminding them of what they left in the cart.

Retargeting can be a bit technical, but the strategy converts up to 26% of lost customers, so it is worth testing. There are also WooCommerce plugins that make retargeting easier.

To set this up, you need to place a Facebook pixel, Google remarketing tag, or the equivalent snippet of code from whatever platform you choose, on your website. The pixel tracks the visitor’s actions, called events, on your site. Events include putting items in the cart, checkouts, clicking for more information, and more.

If your website is just getting started, experts suggest that you plan your goals for traffic because the platforms learn from the actions of retargeted people. A minimum of traffic is needed to provide data and improve results from retargeting ads.

Long Term Benefits

Shopping Cart Abandonment affects all eCommerce sectors. We’ve seen that some people don’t want to create an account to check out, so building trust is essential. Many people daydream shop about big experiences and discretionary purchases that are important to them – travel, luxury, automobiles, etc.

However, the solution to abandoned carts isn’t one-size-fits-all. Check out statistics for your industry, and then think about what they tell you about your ideal customer. Create incentives and emails with empathy, personalize where you can, and you will not only increase your recovered cart sales rates, you will increase your “customer for life” base. To learn more about how to improve conversion rates, check out our free guide How to Supercharge Your WooCommerce Conversion Rate.

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