WHAT IS ABANDONED CART RECOVERY?
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Donna Fisher
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August 10th, 2016
You work hard to get customers to your website. You keep your site fresh, make sure all of the links work, and send out regular emails with specials and sales. You keep quality SEO content on the internet to draw in shoppers and improve rankings. But, on the site itself, you find abandoned shopping carts left behind. You soon find that abandoned cart recovery is crucial for any online business.
Are Abandoned Cart Orders Really a Problem?
It starts this way: a potential customer visits your site and likes what he or she sees. He starts shopping, putting items in his virtual shopping cart, and then – disappears! This happens a disturbing 71% of the time! That is 71 out of every 100 customers who abandon their shopping cart without making a purchase. Just last year, this amounted to around $31 BILLION in abandoned shopping.
71 out of 100 customers abandon their shopping carts.
What Causes Abandoned Carts?
The main reason people abandon their shopping carts is because they were hit with unexpected costs at checkout. This is most often in the context of shipping, but also can be caused by fees and taxes. This is the equivalent of buying groceries and having to pay a “sacker’s fee” at the checkout. It pays, therefore, to provide a discount on shipping over X amount of dollars. You would be part of the 50% of online businesses that offer free or discounted shipping. Base your free or discounted shipping on your average sale – if most online orders are for around $50, offer free shipping for orders over $60. Nearly 40% of all shoppers say that they will buy a little more in order to get free shipping. Sometimes, the best recovery for abandoned carts is to keep them from being abandoned in the first place.
First time shoppers to your site will break your heart. That’s because 99% of them will NOT make a purchase! That’s right – 99%! Many of the will leave behind a shopping cart though, and 75% of them plan to come back and finish the purchase. They really are not trying to waste your time. There is actually a time delay of up to 24 hours before the cart can officially be termed as “abandoned.” This is where follow-up is so important. Abandoned cart recovery may be as simple as an automated email.
Another reason people abandon their carts is because they are asked to fill out too much information on the purchase form. The general public is much more wary about allowing access to their personal information these days, and if your forms ask for too much personal data, the buyer will become nervous and abandon the purchase. Save data mining for people who have committed to being a paying customer. Give them a chance to offer more information so that you can better serve them.
Many times, the buyer is ready to push the “make payment” button and simply gets distracted. You’ve probably done that yourself – you’re shopping for an anniversary gift, and the boss pings you about a meeting.
Others may decide to think about their decision or discuss it with someone before they make the move. They often use their shopping cart as a type of “bookmark” they can return to peruse their potential order. This means they are still in the right frame of mind to make a purchase.
The buyer's finger is hovering the "buy" button.
But, this won’t last for long. This is where abandoned cart recovery pays for itself.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Abandoned cart recovery can be immediate and automatic. There is software available that will keep track of your shopping carts and bring the customer back to his shopping cart. This is often done with a real-time email that focuses on converting the shopper into a buyer. This type of communication can often encourage a shopper to complete his purchase, rather than letting the shopping cart sit until it is forgotten.
Forgotten shopping carts are lost income
Your software may also include Exit Offers. This is an app that offers a one-time deal to customers who are leaving their shopping cart. This often will close the sale when other tactics fail.
Increase Your Customer Base
Most businesses count on return customers. When you manage to recover a shopping cart and turn a shopper into a buyer, you have created a lifetime client! You have increased your customer base. It is well worth the time and expense to monetize every shopping cart. Abandoned cart recovery can take that 71% of undecided shoppers and turn them into 100% happy customers.