If people intend to buy, do they really buy? Seems to be a stupid question to ask? However, experienced e-commerce insiders know there is a BIG difference between people’s intention and the direct action of buying. The problem becomes more obvious when studying shopping cart experiences. Thus, to believe the statistics, about 75% of shopping cart transactions remain uncompleted. Although websites’ owners do their best to make their products or services look more attractive as well as to optimize the pages so that they can be easily found, a potential customer can visit a site, choose some items, add them to the shopping cart and… leave.
What are the barriers to effective online selling?
It’s not a secret that the usability of some e-commerce websites still leaves much to be desired, and this is the first thing to be attended. Thus, in e-shops with structure more complex than 1 sub-level deep, the navigation can be simplified using headlines, sub-headers and breadcrumbs.
Secondly, the need to register before adding products to the shopping cart may annoy a lot of prospects. As is known, the driving force of purchasing is emotions, not logic, so lengthy procedures on the way to checkout often make shopping enthusiasm disappear as fast as it arises.
Other possible reasons for shopping cart abandonment are the absence of visual feedback when the selected product is moved to the cart; the use of the Buy button instead of the Add To Cart one; endless written instructions as to updating the cart’s contents; and the requirements to enter customer’s personal information before letting them know the overall costs.
Can the shopping cart abandonment rate be diminished at all, and how?
Fortunately, yes, it can. Any e-commerce shopping cart can be improved considerably by using the following notes, resulting in higher business income.
1.The latest studies have proved that a thumbnail image of product contributes much to the shopping cart completion. A picture gives an additional opportunity to view the product and helps a potential buyer to visualize possession. In other words, make people SEE themselves buying. Besides, by placing the product’s image in the site, you care of those customers who aren’t native *English* speakers, and be sure that they will appreciate it greatly!
2.The log-in and registration requirements shouldn’t be too sophisticated – don’t tire out your visitors. They DO WANT to buy your stuff, so just let them do it without imposing endless exhausting fill-in forms.
3.Make sure that a client can easily add, remove or change items in the shopping cart, especially if products come in various sizes, colors and styles.
4.Also you’d better be certain that all the articles shown are in stock, otherwise a customer may feel frustrated (and not without purpose) and never visit your website again.
5.Caring for user’s convenience, include links back to the page with product’s catalog number. This simple operation can be very helpful for customers, and their gratitude may bring you larger profit.
6.To increase the completion rate, provide several payment options. Nowadays different serviceable payment systems, like PayPal or WebMoney, are available. Many people prefer to use credit cards but don’t burn with desire to provide their numbers over the Web. Supply your clients with such options as fax or voice payment and arrange that the company’s contact information is always reachable.
7.Another proficient method to win your customer’s confidence is to offer a guarantee. Even if someone will try to cheat you, the total income should increase greatly.
8.Finally, if you want to be the most pleasant online trader to deal with, let a visitor know all additional charges, like shipping and handling beforehand. Of course, you shouldn’t shout about that, inform your customers very softly, but frankly – and they are more likely to buy than if they stayed unaware.
9.Did you like these tips? And would they seem so easy-to-use without being numbered? So, make each step of shopping cart completion as clear as possible. Include the Next step or Continue with Checkout button on every page. The crucial point is that the button should be placed far from Remove from Chart to avoid wrong clicking.
At last, don’t forget about the importance of your e-commerce site’s content. Is it really attractive and motivating? Anyway, you can always improve it using professional copywriting services.