Average Cart Abandonment Rate
E-commerce businesses all over the world try their best to
convince shoppers to purchase their products. Some shoppers fill in their carts
with products and then abandon their carts before the checkouts. How often do
shoppers abandon their carts?
According to Statista, the average global cart abandonment
rate sits around 70%, meaning for every 10 customers who add items to their
cart, only 3 will actually complete the purchase. This statistic highlights the
significant revenue businesses lose due to abandoned carts. Understanding why
customers abandon carts and the factors contributing to this behaviour is
crucial for online stores.
Understanding the Reasons
There are various reasons why customers might abandon their carts:
- Unexpected Shipping Costs: Hidden shipping fees added at checkout can be a major turn-off for customers.
- Complex Checkout Process: A lengthy and cumbersome checkout process can discourage customers from completing their purchase.
- Lack of Guest Checkout Option: Forcing users to create an account before checkout can be an unnecessary hurdle.
- Payment Security Concerns: Customers might hesitate to provide payment information if the website lacks trust signals.
- Price Concerns: Customers might abandon carts to compare prices elsewhere or wait for potential sales.
By analysing abandoned cart data and understanding the reasons behind them, businesses can implement targeted solutions to reduce abandonment rates.
Analysis of Abandoned Carts / Checkouts on Shopify
Shopify provides comprehensive data on abandoned carts / checkouts. A checkout is considered abandoned after the customer has added contact information, but before the customer has completed their purchase.
Accessing the data
Use the following steps to find the abandoned checkout data on Shopify:
- Login to your Shopify admin panel
- Navigate to Orders
- Under the Orders section, click on Abandoned Checkouts
- Click on Export button in the top right corner
- Check you mail box to see a file with the exported abandoned checkouts
Analysing the data
When analysing abandoned checkouts, remember to compare all the KPIs and findings against the completed orders. The trend for abandoned checkouts should be different from the trend for completed orders to conclude unusual behaviour. For example, it is expected to have more abandoned checkouts from the same region where more completed orders are.
The abandonment rate provides better insights compared to the abandoned checkout stats alone.
- Select the date range. Shopify stores data for previous years. The most recent date range may provide better insights into why checkouts were abandoned recently.
- Plot a histogram of abandoned checkout Subtotals. A histogram will help to understand what values are abandoned the most frequently.
- Segment by region/country / city. Geo analysis often shows that the most distant regions have a higher abandonment rate. Shipping costs are usually higher and delivery times are longer.
- Calculate abandonment rate by product / by product category. Some products may have higher abandonment rates because of their pricing or high shipping costs.
Strategies to Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate
High Shipping Costs:
- Offer free shipping above a certain order value.
- Provide transparent shipping cost estimates during the checkout process.
- Consider offering alternative shipping options with different price points.
Complex Checkout Process:
- Streamline your checkout process by reducing unnecessary steps.
- Offer guest checkout options.
- Ensure clear and concise instructions throughout the checkout flow.
Pricing Concerns:
- Consider offering discounts or promotions on frequently abandoned products.
- Bundle products to create more value propositions.
- Clearly communicate the value proposition of your products.
Loyalty Programs:
- Implement a loyalty program that rewards customers for purchases, encouraging them to complete checkouts.
- Offer targeted promotions or points for frequently abandoned products.
By implementing these strategies, you can gain valuable insights into abandoned checkout behaviour and identify the most common products left behind. This allows you to address potential pain points, optimize your product pricing and promotions, and ultimately reduce cart abandonment and increase sales.
